CHAPTER 92: THE SWORDSMAN

He darted forward, higgledy - piggledy, his little legs hitting the damp ground censoriously. The wind blew his hat backward and it fell, but that didn’t seem to make him relent, rather it made him increase his pace. His heart pounded briskly, and he sweated profusely.

His father’s voice: " knagslot run!".

He glanced back, a torrent of fear exploded in his heart. His dad was on his knees, a figure - stocky, radiated a smile. He kept on running, his vision blurry, the wind prosteperous, the light in the sky faint, the foliages - many.

" You piece of crap," the stocky figure voice boomed. " I thought you are Almighty that you are strong but you are nothing, you can’t even face me".

" But what did I do to deserve all this," pleaded his father.

" A lot!, a damn lot, you hindered my progress, it was always you in the limelight, always receiving the fame the praises while I got nothing, but hell!. I guess nothing lasts forever afterall".

" You can’t possibly do this please, I’m begging you".

The stocky figure give out a dry , short laugh. "No, no,no, I can and I can do a whole lot more than that".

He held the sword, it’s light shining bright, the brightness cutting the wind, long, dazzling, with symbols carved onto it. He smiled, inside his mouth almost toothless, he raised it up and it Shone, more brightly.

Knagslot kept running, tears welled in his eyes.

" Father!", he screamed .

" Forget about me son, keep on running", came the reply.

He had covered quite a distance and he felt somewhat safe, his sword went up, in a split second it was down. The sight was horrific for knagslot eyes, the first drop of tears fell, he let out a shout, soon he was out of balance and so he fell. The sword was filled with blood, Scarlet.

" Keep running boy, go as far as you want but remember, I’ll always get you, not now but sooner or later", the voice boomed.

Knagslot kept running even though he was tired he couldn’t stop, he was not taking any chances of being caught, so he kept on, his little leg weary and tired. He threw a glance backwards, and his eyes caught the stocky figure vanishing in crimson coloured dust. Henry found it rather eccentric to be true.

He was startled, he halted, and his eyes was wide open as the man was finally gone.

He sobbed loudly for long, and sat beside a tree, his gaze at the cottage far away. He waited, he was actually scared to go back, for fear of the figure coming back. He waited for quite long, all the while crying, his eyes were already swollen and red from the act.

Finally, he was up, and slowly, in cautious steps, he went towards the cottage. The door was ajar. Inside, it had been obliterated. The first thing he caught was his father, his head almost off, his face was unrecognizable. Knagslot shrank back in shock at the sight. He cried loudly, falling beside his dead father corpse. He was up again after a while, his gaze went to the room. Everything was broken the table chairs, flower vases and picture frames of him and his father. He rushed over to them and pick them up, the sight of his father making him cry, he picked up a frame of his mother and fell on the floor crying loudly

He had lost his mother when he was little, she died just after she gave birth to him of a strange and outre illness. He had been raised by his father and he had never saw his mother only through pictures and now his father was gone. There only two picture frames that weren’t broken to pieces even though they had been broken. It was a picture frame of him and his dad and the other was of his mother.

He knew the figure would still come for him and so he had to run far away, he took his father’s wooden box, it was quite large, he opened it and put the frames inside. He took all the remaining things he thought to valuable, a small wooden box containing coins and money - his father savings, books, portions and then a wand!. Knangslot didn’t quite know if it was magical but he carried it anyway and put his clothes inside, leaving those of his father behind and then just as he was about to close the box he saw a picture, not in a frame. It was a picture of his father and another figure he recognized as his father’s brother. He eyes widened suddenly, he knew his father’s brother, they had visited him once. He was nice and was an hunter who hunted for fierce creatures, he was quite popular and was very rich, he was known for killing fierce and strange monsters and creatures, some with his bare hands.

Knagslot googled at the picture and suddenly had a thought that he should go to his father’s brother but then he lived in the village, how could a seven year-old boy locate the city and then someone’s house.

He heaved the box which was too heavy for him to carry outside and just then he heard a loud noise, he jerked forward and fell on the ground. With the world gamut of his vision he saw their cottage slowly turning to Black crystal dusts and varnished away. He felt startled and his eyes dilated, he suddenly stood up and lifted the box on his head, breaking into a run. When he was far from the cottage he walked, it was more of plods than walks. He saw a mountain ahead and heaved a sigh, getting on a viaduct. He looked down and saw fishes, his mind flashed to his father, he had told him on several occasions that he had a magical power and it was connecting with animals he sighed and returned his gaze forward.

Where was it actually going?, he had no idea but all he knew was that he had to get as far as he could from the place that the cottage had vanished. He felt gaga, his little eyes were swollen and he was exhausted. Soon, he was off the viaduct, he kept moving, the area he was, was wooded.

Two.....

The Crow’s cottage

Minutes ago, he had been laughing and talking with his father, but now, he had lost him. They had heard a knock on the door and his father had gone to open it, only to be hit on the chest by an invisible hand. He ran to see who was that but to his bewilderment, their was actually no one at the door.

" Run knagslot!, run!, he’s come for...", his father had said.

Knagslot had been confused. " Who?".

Just then, the room had been taken by a fierce whirlwind, it lifted everything up and threw them down, the objects all crashing into pieces. He had heard a laugh - such a soft one, it saturated the ambience and then it became more louder, a hand from nowhere had grabbed him, he screamed and screamed, his father had kicked the hand and pushed him outside...

Leaves swirled as they fell on the ground. The weather was rather rime but he didn’t feel it much, he was wearing a white t-shirt with a long sleeved jacket on top and brown breeches. He was quite cute, with short curly hairs like his father and a fair complexion cute baby face that radiated innocence.

After working for hours a finally saw an old cottage- larger than the one of his father, is war an immemorial look and was brown. There were foxes and vixens parading the entrance when Henry approached it they stared at him frenetically and rushed towards him. He shouted and fell on the floor. The climbed on him and started to ironically - lick him. Knagslot was shocked but at the same time appalled. There were eight in number three foxes and five vixens w

-a big fox and two young ones and a big vixen with four Young ones. He held them and they leaped around bending their head and playing like dogs.

They were friskier than knagslot had expected the lady to the cottage and he entered dropping his wooden box down. Is eyes met a room fairly large with about four shells and golfing it there was a table which two family in the middle of the room on it was scattered papers of drawings - sketches and scrawls. He was rather to curious as they picked One up and Glass through it you look you left and right and such chairs two one is left and one on his right there was also one beside the table by the corner of the world on the right hand side was the bed which war in white cloth covering which had become brown. Knagslot that the apps for years no one has been in The cottage.

With bated breaths, is sat on the chair beside the table why the foxes and vixens sat on the Scarlet rug which covered the ground in the cottage and stared at him. He read through the letters - very quickly. He hadn’t attended the normal school but instead he had been educated by his father who thought him every morning till noon.