Chapter 3: Sneak, Snuck, Caught

I walk through the huge destroyed, vine-covered remains of buildings, and strange, large masses of metal as I reach the path that leads to my home. My torch has burned out already but it's fine. I don't need it to see my way home.

My home is in the forests, or rather it's in a town that's in a forest. It's relatively small with a population of only 7,000 people. However, the people are skilled in different ways so it balances out fairly well. A military force of 3,000, give or take a few, helps protect the town as both guards and soldiers, with a dedicated policing force of 200 people to monitor the internal situations. There didn't really need to be all that many people as soldiers, but in order to protect the town, there needed to be a certain amount of people at all times. Of course, I forgot to explain what the town needed to be protected from. It's not people. There hasn't been new people sighted in nearly 100 years. It's the monsters.

Monsters of our own creation, or so the legends tell. I'll have to write down more on that later, though. The others in the town all maintain their own jobs, such as construction crews to build houses, medics for the small hospital, and tailors for our clothes. Of course, there are other jobs, but I don't really want to go over them, as my town has finally started to come into sight.

I've made it back to my town. My town has a wall outside that's a solid 15 feet tall made of both wood and stone, with a ledge on the inside. The ledge on the inside allows the town guards to both attack and defend from the monsters.

"Oy! Who're you?" A guardsman calls from on top of the fence. It's my good friend, Allister.

"It's me, Drake." I call back. It's night by now, so the fact that he saw me shows his excellent sight.... or hearing. I've never actually determined which he recognizes me by.

"Ah, I forgot you went out earlier. Here, I'll let you in. Give my regards to your father when you get there. I won't tell him you went out again."

I forgot about that. I snuck out without telling him. I'm definitely going to be in trouble. 'Please let the punishment not be the horses again'. Last time I was caught, I was punished by having to clean out the horse stalls again.

"Thanks," I say, passing through the opened gates.

I continue to go through the town. As it's nighttime, there isn't a lot of people around. As I walk towards the town center, I reach the fountain. It's not on, but there's still a little water inside it.

I reach in, cup my hands, and pull some water out. I pour it over my head, and try to wash the dried mystery liquid off of my body.

I shake my head and my soaked black hair flaps around. It smacks my face wetly. There isn't so much of it that it could be considered long, but it's not short, either. I look at the hill in front of me and remember the name of this type of building. It's a small castle, mounted on a hill, with a palisade surrounding the area where the hill begins to smoothly taper down.

That, unfortunately, is my home. I am the son of the current King of Solaris.

I take a deep breath and prepare myself to head up the hill.

I walk up the stairway, and open the door. I stay in the shadows of the night, but unfortunately, there are torches still burning. The door opens heavily and makes a slight creaking sound. I quietly shut it. I hear snoring and am pretty sure that it's my father. I walk forward, towards the stairway where my room is at. The fire burning in the hearth sparks and pops. The ancient-patterned green carpet helps to quiet my steps.

I take off my dried sludge-covered boots when I reach my room. As I'm sitting on the floor, peeling off my socks, I hear someone clear their throat. I slowly turn, and say, "Yes..... Mother?"

She looks me in the eye and says, "You better have a good explanation for this."