The Hero's Fall to Rise: Chapter 11, The Blessed Child

"What?" Gregory asked in a perplexed tone. "You see, compared to my previous daughters, my most recent addition to my family is blessed." The woman said as she disregarded Gregory's confusion. The woman snapped her fingers. The man who stood by the entrance promptly grabbed Gregory and started to haul him off again. " Oh, and welcome to the Ilktar Forest, and the village of Silverwolf. I'm the chief Alyx. Be sure to remember it." Alyx said as Gregory was hauled off. " Wait, What do you mean she is blessed? Where am I going? Someone Please explain!" Gregory asked as he was hauled off.

Gregory was taken to another well-built cottage. This building looked much more sturdy as they passed through a large gate, that was connected to a just as sturdy wall. *BANG BANG BANG* Gregory heard loud bangs resounding from the back of the house. Gregory's curiosity was short as he was taken straight to where the sound came from. As the back of the house came into view, he found a large field of grass. Much of the grass had been broken over till it showed dirt. Where it was dirt were a few wooden dummies, targets, as well as a large boulder. Amidst the dirt field, standing in the middle of it was a girl who looked a few years younger than Gregory. 

The reason for the banging was that the girl was sparring with a small creature. This small creature was Chompers. Though what would look like sparring to the people of the village, it was a fight for survival for Chompers. Seeing that his only companion was fighting, Gregory made an effort to break free from the man who was "escorting" him. Even if he hadn't been injured, it was unlikely that he would be able to escape this man's hold on him.

As the fight between the girl and Chompers came to a still, Gregory was forced close enough where Chompers and Gregory's connection was reestablished. With thier thread connection, Chompers dashed away from the girl as best he could. To no avail, as losing sight of her for a second Chompers found she was right in front of him again. "Well, aren't we feisty all of a sudden, where was that 2 hours ago? I still haven't even worked up a sweat. Let's make it worth my while before you break." The little girl mocked as she made a swing at Chompers. While her speed just then was too fast for Gregory to see, he spoke out as fast as he could." WAIT!" Gregory shouted at the girl. 

As the word echoed out, her movement came to a halt. Barely an inch away from Chomper's skull. Had he been alive, Chompers would have fainted on the spot. "Arthur, who is that. Better yet why is he here?" The girl asked, completely disregarding Gregory. "He is your new plaything, as per Chief Alyx" Arthur responded. "Are you sure, I mean the last villager barely lasted a week, and he hasn't walked since then. This little guy has lasted barely 8 hours. Then again I've been going very easy on him since he is cute." The girl responded and rambled on. 

"I am nearly escorting him, it's up to you since he isn't from the village. He has been forgiven for entering the Silverwolf Forest without permission, as long as he became your plaything Ms. Aranya" Arthur responded. "Hmm. Okay, leave him and be on your way. Did mother give a time?" Asked Aranya. Arthur responded with a simple no, as he placed Gregory on the ground and almost made off like he was scared. 

Gregory gave an awkward smile as he looked at the girl in front of him, whose name seemed to be Aranya. "You wouldn't happen to be so kind as to not try and destroy my only companion?" Gregory asked as politely as he could. "Why should I, if he breaks he breaks. It's not like he is alive. It's clear he is bone, now how he is moving is odd. " Aranya responded absentmindedly, before stopping her sentence midway through. " Did you say, companion? Now that seems odd, this little guy did seem to have a burst of energy as soon as you arrived. You wouldn't happen to know why he is able to move around would you?" Aranya asked as she walked over to Gregory. 

"Well, you see." Gregory started as he wasn't sure if he should say anything as he himself knew very little. "Ugh, you're already wounded. It wasn't even done by me. Go replace those bandages, and rest. Mother could have at least given me someone who was ready to spar." Aranya rambled on again to herself. As she finished her sentence about telling Gregory to go fix himself up, a few men showed up, and helped Gregory by guiding him into the house. Their they guided him on where to find bandages, and where he would be sleeping that night. Gregory noticed, while looking into the drawer, that while yes there were bandages, it seemed like a massive extent to have just on hand. 

Gregory would go on to however thank the fact that this house had so many. Chompers was left outside, as while he had wanted to follow after Gregory, Aranya refused to let him go for another several hours. As the day slowly passed by Aranya eventually released Chompers from his hellish fight for survival. While having been in the house, Gregory and Chompers had been close enough for their connection to stay making it easy to find his way to Gregory. Bounding into a small room, just big enough for a bed and a tiny stool Chompers placed himself right next to Gregory. Gregory was happy to be reunited with Chompers but was more and more confused as to what had happened to him, where he was, and who exactly Alyx and Aranya were. 

However, he left that for when he would see Aranya next as he wasn't sure when his wounds would heal since it seemed that what Chompers had been doing was what Gregory was going to do, which terrified him.