City of Holmir

Waking up early, Otto was eager to uphold his father's promise. Today they would finally go to the city and buy an axe which he could use. As Otto was about to turn 6 this year, his parents told him that it was time that he would help the family. As they were the village's woodsman, a suitable woodcutting axe was necessary. However as his father's axes are too big and heavy, he would receive his one of his own. The few traders that provided the village with goods never brought any small axes. Therefore they had to get one in the city.

This is the first time that he would actually go to the city. Excitement building up in him, Otto stood up with a high spirit. Not even bothering changing his cloths, he rushed over to his parents' room. 'I cannot wait to leave the village and travel.' Otto thought to himself.

Opening up the door, he spoke up, "Dad! Dad! Wake up! We…" Not even being able to finish his sentence, he was surprised to see his father actually already awake. Not only that, he had already changed his cloths and was preparing provisions for on the road. As the trip to the city would take a day, this was required.

"You're finally awake. I thought that you would forget that we were going to the city and just sleep in." Jordan said jokingly.

"Don't bully him. He is just a child." Anna cut in with a smiling face. Looking over to Otto she continued, "However you do need to change. I don't think that it is wise to go with those cloths to the city."

Finally coming back to his sense, Otto realized that he still wore his sleeping wear. Redness started to fill his face as he nodded quickly to his mother and rushed back to his room to change.

As Otto was changing his cloths, a nice fragrant entered his room. He could smell the delicious food that his mother was preparing. He quickened, as his mouth started to water. Putting on his trousers, he did not wait and made his way towards his common room. Opening the door, the fragrant that was coming from the fireplace was even stronger as it engulfed him, entering his nostrils.

His father was already seated, enjoying a hot bowl of stew. Noticing Otto, Anna prepared another bowl and placed it on the table, ushering Otto to eat as well.

Thanking his mother, Otto rushed over to where the bowl was and started eating the stew. Because they were from the rural region, they had not much savings. Because of this, getting meat was a luxury and vegetables were preferred. This was also apparent of the stew that was in front of him, as it did not contain any meat. Instead of the meat, mushrooms were used, to still give it a certain juicy taste to it.

Quickly finishing up his meal, he noticed that his father was already done and finished packing up a small bag to bring with him for on the road. As Otto finished his meal, a small coat was thrown at him, to cover himself up. As it was currently the fall season¹, there would occasionally be a cold wind.

Getting into the small coat, Otto rushed over to his mother and planted a kiss on her cheek before bidding his farewell. After which he turned around to follow his father outside of the house. As the door started to creek open, Anna spoke, as she was waving to them. "Be careful on your journey. And look out for each other, no matter what!"

Even though the second sentence was meant for Jordan, Otto replied, "Don't worry mother, I will take care of father!" Upon hearing this, both his parents gave a small laugh, as they nodded towards him.

The village was rather small. There were only half a dozen homesteads that occupied it. Most of the people focused on farming, so there was a lot of farming field surrounding the village. As they were responsible for the necessary wood, their house was a bit removed from the village center.

To get on the path towards the city, they first had to cross the village center. The majority of the houses were filled with middle aged people. There were not many children around. Because of this, Otto spent most of his time at home helping his parents.

Making their way across the village towards the exit, a voice called out to them. "Jordan! I heard that you are going to the city. Is it possible to do a job for me while you are there?" It was the village chief who called out. It was a middle aged man, with brow short hair. He was a bit older compared to Jordan.

'Why do you have to stop me from getting out of the village?' Otto thought to himself. His faces started to show irritation as the conversation was dragging on.

The village chief asked why they were going to the city and when they would return. Moreover he was also explaining every detail to Jordan. It felt as he was purposely delaying them. 'Can we leave already? Why do you need so much?' Otto thought to himself. He got rather bored, as he was starting to kick around some of the pebbles on the ground.

After some time, the chief handed a small parchment and a small purse to Jordan and bit his farewell. 'Finally we can move. That took forever. I cannot wait to go to the city.' Otto's mind was getting filled with excitement as they were finally free to leave the village. The dirt road which passed through the fields and entered a fast horizon covered with green. This was the road which would lead him into the great unknown. With that excitement, Otto took his first step outside of the village.

…

The dirt road that they followed was packed with a dense forest. If seemed as if the trees were embracing the road, as they were forming archways. Animal sounds could be heard, between the soft breeze that touched the leafs.

With every small noise, Otto was distracted as his face directly turned towards the noise. Every time Otto turned his head to where the sound came from hoping that he would see something new. 'Will I see a new creature now?' he kept on hoping. However to his disappointment, he was ever able to meet something new to his liking. The only thing that quelled his curiosity was the various floras that he witnessed. But that was also the only thing that was different.

Between the soft noises that the surrounding made, the father and son were making their way towards their goal. They passed two different crossroads. One was leading towards another village in the surrounding, while the other was leading towards the castle of the local lord. However, they kept on moving forward. Not knowing the road, the only thing Otto could do was to follow in his father's footsteps. During this journey, they had to several small breaks to rest up. The road was so empty that there was no one else that traveled these roads. It was clear that the villages were rather removed from the rest of the civilization.

After tracking the dirt road for some time, the woods started to open up, and make its way to a large field. This was something which was beyond what Otto saw before. The horizon was filled with various fields and grasslands. The open land that surrounded the village was nothing in comparison to the fields in front of him.

Amazed by this, Otto's mouth started to open up in amazement. There was a hill, which was slowly getting covered in various buildings. The higher you looked, the denser the buildings started to become. However, there was no clear wall that surrounded the city. The only clear wall was at the top, which was protecting the inner city from the rest.

With a soft, yet amazed voice Otto asked, "Is that…?"

However, before he could finish, his father explained, "That is indeed the City of Holmir. It is one of the 11 cities that are within our kingdom." However Jordan did not stop and appreciate the size or the structure how the city was made. Instead he continued walking forward. Feeling a pull on his hand, he noticed that his father was already continuing, making his way to the city.

"Why is there no walls surrounding the city?" Otto asked his father, with a curious voice. "You said that bigger cities are protected by huge walls?"

"This one is a different settlement. Initially, the settlement was build on top of a hill." Jordan explained. He pointed to the middle of the city and added, "If you look at the middle, there are still walls protecting the inner city. The surrounding places were all later added as the city started to grow."

Not understanding much of what his father said Otto was still amazed at how grand the city looked like. Even the amount of people surprised him. From a distance, he saw numerous amounts of people walking within the streets of the city.

Continuing down their path, they finally arrived at the entrance of the city. Because there was only a small barricade surrounding the lower levels of the city, there was a queue to enter. The surrounding was filled with various guards. There were small patches which the guards wore. These patches had a symbol of a scale on it. One of the bowls had a sword, while the other had a shield.

The queue amazed Otto. He saw a lot of various creatures. Even though they looked human, they had different features to them.

The ones directly in front of them was a group, which walked like humans, however also had something sticking out of their back, which looked like a tail. Moreover they had different ears and even fur on their skin. Curious about this, Otto asked his father about them.

"They are known as the Cat-Folk." Jordan said. He continued explaining that the world was filled with tons of different races. As the kingdom had an open policy, there were also a number of other races that he could see within the boundaries of the city.

Even in the queue, Otto noticed that there were Dwarfs, Gnomes and other Beast-men races waiting for their turn.

"Next!" A loud voice called out towards Otto and Jordan. It was one of the guards that were surrounding them. Walking up to him, he asked, "What is your purpose in the city?"

Jordan quickly explained his reason and showed the parchment that he received from the village chief. This paper indicated that they were citizens of the kingdom and that they had business within the boundaries of the city. After a short control, the guard moved aside and welcomed them to the city.

Having not even entered the city, there were shouting and screams coming from guard post next over. "You filthy inferior race! How dare you to show your stinking face here without any proper papers!" The sound came from the group of Cat-folk that were in front of them.

"What is happening?" Otto asked. However the second he said those words, he noticed the face of his father darken. Instead of answering, he just pulled Otto with him deeper into the city. Looking back one last time, Otto noticed that one of the Cat-folk was lying on the ground, with all his wears spread all over the street. The group started to get surrounded by guards, before they started to hit them with the blunt side of their spears. "No stop! Please stop!" distant cries echoed into the streets.

These voices were quickly damped by the busyness of the streets in front of him. Shouts and voices overlapped each other, as vendors tried to promote their wares. Negotiations were made and coin started to exchange hands. The atmosphere, amount of people in the city as well as the buildings amazed Otto. The buildings were at least twice as larger compared to their house. Even the village chief's house was nothing compared to the buildings within the city.

As for the people, having never left the village before, the amount of people was a shocking sight for Otto. However, for some reason, he liked it. There was certain warmth that the city and the people brought with them. Curious about the size of the city, he asked his father.

Jordan could not provide a proper answer to the question as he also did not know how many residences the city had. He just had heard rumors that the city was nearing 100 thousand citizens.

Continuing their road, towards their destination, various cries and shouts gave the city a lively ambiance. Merchants started to shout various phrases to gather the interest of the surrounding people, "Buy 3 pay 2!" "Fresh vegetables from the farms!" "Special wares from the Union of Regbia!"

The eyes of Otto were glistering as he was hearing all these sentences. There were even people trying to drag passerbies to their stalls as they were showcasing the items that they had brought with them. There were so many wonders within a large city. The streets were filled with people from different races and backgrounds. The stalls were filled with various colorful wares. Even the smell that was coming from the stalls was drawing people towards them.

A clanging sound was filling the street as someone was rushing through the streets. As the clang stopped he shouted out, "The village of Woodstock has been raided by a group of bandits! Many killed or kidnapped!" After some clanging, he continued, "Bounty put on the head of these bandits! Traveling in the woods has increased danger!" As he passed the two, the crier repeated his words after some clanging, "The village of Woodstock has been…"

"Who was that?" Otto asked in a surprised voice.

"That is the crier. He spreads the news which happens in the kingdom." Jordan explained.

Amazed by this, his eyes kept on following the crier that continued his way. The clanging could still be vaguely heard from the distance. The moment the crier disappeared in the sea of people, Otto turned around, however to his surprise, and there was no sign of Jordan. Due to the sea of people, the grip of Jordan got lost as Otto was slowly dragged with the flow.

"Father!" Father!" Otto started to shout out.

"Otto! Where are you?" a voice called back to him.

Rushing towards the voice that was calling him, Otto started to make his way through the sea of people. With every step he took, the voice started to get closer. Through the legs of the people, Otto could see his father, who was struggling to make his way towards him. Rushing to his father side, Otto started to increase his speed.

As he was about to reach out, something hit his foot as he got tripped. Slowly he started to fall towards the ground. There was no time to shield himself, as the stone road was approaching him. Without the ability to protect himself, he fell flat on his stomach.

…