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Once upon a time, there lived a boy in the Kingdom of Herdosia. A brave and kind fellow, who possessed a charm of boldness that made him quite well known around his little village in the land of the kingdom.
He was yet to be discovered by the monarchs. He rode horses to pass his time though running after the rabbits or standing under the falling water of the waterfall was also some of the things he liked to do when his mother wasn't yelling at him to do something productive like sowing the field in the mornings.
The boy's bravery was tested for the first time when he met a traveler named Cercio. A wanderer would be a better fitting term since Cercio had no direction nor any orders from the Kings and Queens to cross the land.
Suspicion arised in the boy's mind; he, however, kept his lips tight. Wording the suspicions out would cause conflict. Conflict is what he did not need to keep the peace of his village.
Cercio stayed in the village's empty shack in the end of the east valley. Empty it was because no one wished to climb up high on the east valley.
The boy was riding his horse one windy morning. Making his way to the forests to get wood.
"Going for a ride again, are we?"
A woman in front of the river called him out.
"Going to collect some wood."
"Why no, i can see that."
He realised he had his axe in the bag behind him.
"You should keep it in a safer place..."
The woman had filled her bucket with the cool water, she stood straight on her feet now.
"It is alright. No one would take it, would they?"
"What if it falls out?"
"Oh it won't."
A bit of back and forth but then he continued riding.
Echoing gust of air covered his senses. His axe had fallen off by the time he had reached the forest.
She was right...
By the time he went back to his path he came from, the axe had disappeared.
All evening he looked into the forests.
Every bush, every overgrown grass patches, every tree or root.
The iron axe was nowhere to.be found...
There was only one reason why.
The boy's sharp concentration caused the mistakes of Cercio slip through. Everyday, the false traveler walked down to the town and went up at the same time, he walked up with great difficulty and concentration. Carefully climbing with a bag...
The boy searched for a chance to go up as well... And he got that opportunity sooner than he had expected.
The boy watched. And watched.
After confirming, he climbed up the valley on a warm afternoon. The shack absent of any human. Winds pushed the windows opened and closed then with soft thuds.
The door, closed but not locked, was pushed open. Steps felt heavier on the creak of wood that followed the boy's footsteps. His eyes absorbed the decorations inside with great interest.
Where did he get these?
How did he get these?
His moving eyes settled at one item on the wall.
An Axe...
His axe.
Like he thought—
"You should not walk up 'ere."
The boy's head wipped around on itself to see the source of those words.
A pair of hands grabbed his shoulders.
A grunt.
His hands fell forward. With full force, he pushed.
Another thud, louder one, was followed by a creak and a sharp intake of breath
"Argh—... Aren't as weak as you look..."
The traveller sat up after the impact.
The boy was shaking. Hands up in fists, knuckles white.
"Why are you collecting stuff?"
He heard his own voice. Rough, shaky, out of breath, he breathed.
"Why the stuff?"
Cercio repeated the question mockingly. As if he should know the answer already.
"DON'T PLAY AROUND!"
A painful second of silence lingered between the two, broken only by Cercio's laughter. It echoed as loud as the hard thus of the windows closing again.
"You... are naive."
The boy's fists tightened while the teeth ground hard from fury and he stepped forward.
"And bold?... Or are you stupid?"
Cercio's taunts were working... Until he was thrown back again. For a traveler, he was weak from the body.
"YOU SAY ANOTHER WORD AND I WILL—"
His fist dashed forward towards Cercio's face. He suddenly stopped himself... A hard flinch involuntarily took over Cercio's body and he stopped moving as if waiting for the impact.
"YOU... Y—... You will come with me to the chief!"
That day. Cercio was caught to be a smuggler who stole valuable items from the villages and sold them to the next village. His attempts ended and he was captured and taken to the main Kingdom.
The boy who informed them about him and caught him in the act was given the honor of serving, which he at first humbly declined but then gratefully agreed to.
There begins the story of the soldier Amorse, the kind and humble soldier for whom the world was still a beautiful mystery.