Avarii- the Golden Child Read online

  Avarii:

  The Golden Child

  a novel

  by

  Mark A. Herring

  Copyright © 2018 by Mark A. Herring

  Cover design by Mark A. Herring

  In memory of my father, Edgar Herring; 1935 – 2013

  Chapter One

  ….

  What happened...

  Where am I?

  Wait...

  ….

  Wait, wait, wait...

  I can't open my eyes. I—oh, there, I can, but I can't focus....

  What's going on? Now I can see—

  Am I outside? What on Earth am I doing outside??? I—

  WHY AM I NAKED?!?

  And—I'm... a... child??

  Wait... wait, wait, wait...

  How did this happen? Am I dreaming?

  ….

  What's... my name? I can't remember. Do I have a name? Did I ever have a name? I can't remember.

  So—how old am I? Let's see if I can stand... yes, a little wobbly, but... yes, I can stand now. I look to be somewhere around 9, or 10 years old... how old was I before? Before what? Was I an adult? Or—have I been dreaming all along, and I was an adult in my dreams... and now I'm awake, and a child again.....

  Still does not explain what I'm doing naked!

  A 10 year old boy, just waking up in the middle of the forest in the middle of the day, with no clothes on...

  Someone has some explaining to do!

  I—

  Well, there's the moon up in the sky, a half moon, and it looks a little smaller than usual. Smaller than... what? Has it ever been another size? It just doesn't look right. And what about the silvery ring that goes from horizon to horizon? Has THAT always been there and no one's ever noticed? The moon looks to be on the far side of the rings... rings? Yes, there are several bands now that I can see better.

  Ugh! I'm cold now, getting the chills. I'll warm up rubbing my arms together over my chest.

  So, what's around me? Trees, obviously. Animals that I can hear: birds calling from the branches, flying overhead. ARE those birds?? I can't tell, they're flying too fast for me to see. Other things that I have no idea what they could be way off in the distance. I hope they stay off in the distance...

  Well, there appears to be some kind of structure not far off that I can see between the trees, or is it just bare rocks in a pile?

  I just hope nothing jumps out at me from behind any of these trees as I move towards this... whatever it is that I'm walking towards.

  Hey! There's a small stream between me and the pile of rocks. Let me kneel down and take a look in the reflection....

  Well, it does appear to be me, alright, as a child, in the reflection... I just don't remember being that cute of a kid before: fair skin, limbs a little thin but not too much, and I might even be younger than I thought; 8 years old... maybe? Maybe not? 9, or 10? …. no, I think I am 8 years old, by the looks. I just see a fresh faced young boy with a nose that's just a button of a nose. High cheeks. My hair is straight and a little on the longish side, just down to my shoulders and covering my ears, and a color not quite blonde; brown, with a golden sheen. Bright, brown eyes. I smile at my reflection and—I have dimples! Wow. I don't remember being that cute of a child before. I smile even bigger at my reflection.

  I need to press on and get to the pile of rocks before I freeze to death...

  Oh! This stream is freezing! But at least it isn't too deep for me to get across by wading, just up to my knees. I would hate to find out that I can't swim... whoever I am.... or fall deeper into this stream and end up freezing... you know.....

  Whew! Finally made it to the pile, and while there are piles of rocks around, it actually looks like some kind of ruins, from a bygone era, who knows how long ago? Well, let's go exploring! And look out for any wild thing that would want to hurt me...

  Was this an old castle? A fortress? What secrets do you have for me, castle/fortress?

  Look at me... wringing my hands in anticipation of searching through here—oh! Look! Some cloth! Let's see... a shirt, of longish style... a tunic? Tan colored, short sleeved, unless its for an adult and it is no-sleeved (just short sleeved for my size), and comes down to just above my knees. A v-neck for my head to go through. There's a leather belt, dark brown colored; put that on.

  Oh! Whew! Some undergarments! Put that on! With a draw string in front to snug up the waist band... a little loose, but better than nothing! A red one I'm wearing now, and there are a couple of black ones, and a dark brown one.

  Here's some other ones... oh, but holes all in them and worn through... too bad. Hmmm... some strips of white cloth...

  Well, looks like there's some wool here too, a... kilt? With squares of dark brown, dark green, and thin black stripes. Here's another, looks the same except that it has red squares instead of green...

  Do I know how to use this, to put it on? At least the way I seem to recall.... I put on the green one....

  Perhaps it is for an adult, but, it works, down to just below my knees from my waist, and lots of material to go over my shoulder and wrap the rest around—I need to take the belt off the tunic and start over....

  Ugh!

  OK! Got that done, what else can I find? A pair of leather boots? uh.... just how big? Oh! Not too big; they fit only a little but loosely, but they'll do. Also of dark brown color, and they come up to my knees.

  A few more tunics; another short sleeved that's dark brown, and a couple of long sleeved... (or, long sleeved to me, and short sleeved for an adult, maybe?)) with gold thread designs around the neck and sleeves: a dark brown one (lots of earth tones, here...), and red one. Not bad, I guess. The condition of all of it looks a little worn, but not with holes all in them. Good. Looks like they would be worn by... royalty? Did royalty live here, or just some really wealthy people?

  ….

  How would I know what royalty is?

  Was I of royalty? Or—whatever you call it?!

  Where am I?!

  When am I?!

  Huh, here's a dark brown wool cloak, too, with a hood. A little worn, but, not bad...

  Let's see if there's more rooms....

  Yes, more rooms to loot—loot?! Ugh! never mind...

  Any tools here? Yes! What do we have here?

  A knife; a hunting knife with a leather holder for it and... it looks like it has a straight black antler handle, with natural spiral grooves going down the length? That can go on my belt. There. Some spears... too long for me... unless I cut one of them down to my size.... perhaps later. What else? Oh, there are some.... swords? That is what they are called right: swords? A lot of them! All with matching black antler handles, hanging up neatly along one stone wall in their holders—oof!!!

  Just tripped on something and fell on my face... it's getting dark here; the sun is going down outside. Need to make a fire—what did I trip on??

  Looks like I tripped on a short sword, or, at least, a smaller version of the much longer ones hanging up.... just right for my smaller child hands, perhaps? For both hands? Yes! I'll take that, and its leather holder too. And it looks like its handle is made of the same straight black antler handle that my knife has, just a little longer. And— what's wrong with the blade? Is it rotten? It's made of steel, but the steel looks strange; like there's some kind of water-like ripple pattern in the metal. Is that rust? No, no corrosion that I can see... strange. But it is absolutely beautiful. Is the knife blade like that too? Yes, actually, it does have the same water-like pattern in the metal of the blade. Well, that's different!

  A bunch of other tools here, too, of various kinds; hammers, tongs... and some bags.... leather bags. Here's one I can use to carry everything I've foun
d so far. Like a backpack, not too heavy. Here's one that's like a satchel... lined with bees wax? Is that what this is? What's that for? Maybe I'll use that to put food in. And another one, smaller, for water? OK! Take that too. And.... here's a.... rock? Shaped in a rectangle? What is this? Its rough on its side.... perhaps a sharpening stone for blades? Called a... whetting stone? OK, take that. And I find another rock and metal. Iron? Flint and iron! I can make a fire! Look! Sparks!

  ….

  OK, I must be a child, the way I'm going about playing with a tool that makes sparks like this...

  I need to make a fire! Gotta get outta here and find something.

  OK, now I'm outside once again, well, just outside the ruins, using part of the ruined walls as something of a shelter.... but perhaps I should just collect some fire wood and go back in... yeah, sounds good.

  With what little light left of the day, and some shared light from the moon and rings, I find some big-ish branches for me to use to make a fire, and some smaller ones too, to get it going. I take the wood back to my.... shelter, if I wish to call it that... and set up a stone ring to contain the fire—

  Uh..... how do I know how to do this?

  Never mind!

  I try to arrange the wood in a way that should be good for a fire, right? Then set some of the smaller ones around that and use the flint and steel to make sparks over it. Not quiet working....

  Let's see... something smaller to catch fire that can catch the rest of it on fire.... to build a bigger fire.

  What's around? Leaves? Pine needles? Something like pine needles, anyway.

  OK, use that. Not the green ones! The dead ones all over the ground! Sheesh! Sprinkle that around, clump most at the top... spark away!

  Yes! We have a fire! We? Me! I made a fire!

  Oh, yes, that feels good! Warming my hands. Where's my cloak? Oh, over here where I left it. Put that on my back and tie the string around my neck and take everything I've found back by the fire. I look around in the fire light as the last light of the day fades away.

  I notice the texture of the stone that was used to make this place, however long ago it was, and I wonder who lived here. How did they live? Who were they? Masters of the land? How did they build this place and how long did it take them? And then what happened to it all to make this ruin?

  As I listen to the wildlife sounds outside gradually change to other sounds, non of them appealing to me, I start to imagine eyes I can see with the firelight coming from cracks and crevices all around me... I, being a young boy, with my fear of the dark awakened within me, takes my newfound sword out of its sheath and.... I know I hold it by the handle and use the sharp end against those who would hurt me.... but beyond that...?

  I swallow... hard, and involuntarily gasp as I thought I heard the sound of a tree falling in the forest some distance away—

  Then I heard some other noises closer in, within the ruins, as though something was scrambling over the stone. I clutch my blade tighter.

  Oh, please don't be spiders!

  I hate spiders.

  …..?

  I know what spiders are?

  Eight legged demon-spawn, that's what they are!

  And please, DO NOT LET THEM COME NEAR ME!!!

  I don't think I'm getting any sleep tonight...

  Chapter Two

  Ugh! OK, so I did manage to get some sleep. I have no idea how much I was able to get, but I'm wide awake now.

  I take a survey all around me.... not finding any tracks of any kind that would tell me if I had any visitors while I slept...

  The thought of some unholy monster looking down upon me and salivating as it considered how tasty I could be, as I'm sleeping, sends more than shivers down my spine...

  I leap to my feet and grab my blade, looking around me more just to make sure that I am indeed alone. Of course, there's nothing here but stone, with not much dust on the surface at all, to leave any tracks behind. My fire has died down too, just to smoldering embers... need to put some more wood on it, so I do and bring the flames back to life. I smile wide, seeing how well I'm doing.

  The noises I heard during the night seem to have died off, replaced by the ones I had already heard just the day before, and yes, the sun is coming up.

  Hmmm.... I'm hungry. My stomach is growling something fierce, and I fear it may devour me if I don't find something soon! Ha! Eaten from within by my own guts.... silly....

  Let's see... I need some water; I grab my water skin and go to the stream I came across yesterday.

  There it is. Crystal clear. Still very cold, too. But it feels great! I take a cautious sip.... mmmm! Tastes like mineral water—-?

  ….

  How would I know what minerals are? What is going on?—

  The water tastes great! OK?! Leave it at that!

  Just hope there aren't any tiny, little, things, living in the water that could... make me sick?

  Ugh....

  I gasp— a fish! I just saw a fish in the stream! The water is not deep, at least where I forded across yesterday. There's another! I know! I can have fish! Are they big enough? Sure looks like they are.

  Fish.... hmmm... can I just catch one? Am I fast enough to catch one with my hands? Or are they too fast for me to catch with my hands?

  Do I dare try?

  Do I dare get my clothes (now that I have some!) wet? How old is what I'm wearing? What will happen if I get them wet? Will they fall apart on me and risk getting the others I found to fall apart by getting them wet too? And start all over again?

  I sigh, and reluctantly take my green kilt off, hang it up on a nearby branch, then take off the tunic and hang it up, too. I am not taking off my undergarment! Not happening! But I do need to take my boots off too before getting into the water.

  Then I gaze out over the shimmering surface of the stream, remembering how cold it was to me just the day before, and I look down at my reflection in the water... and I am suddenly reminded of a person, a..... character... in a story, a child's story... of a boy....? Who lived in a jungle with... animals...? And wore a garment similar to mine and was red in color...?

  Am I remembering something?

  My stomach is reminding me to fill it....

  I sigh again; here I go, wading out into the stream—-

  Sheesh! Is it even colder than it was yesterday?!? Goodness! Any colder and it will be turning solid!

  OK, I'm now in a part of the stream that's a little deeper than where I came across yesterday, almost to my undershorts. I cringe as I imagine how cold it will be if I get that wet...

  Where's the fish? Where's that fish?

  Where'd it go??

  Oh, there it is. Let's see.... let's see if I can sneak up on it... slowly... slowly now—

  Missed!

  Hmm, it darted away to the other side of the stream. Let's see if I can try that again, this time not have my hands too close together. Keep my hands apart, off to the sides.... and.....

  ….

  Too far apart that time. There was a lot of water my hands had to go through to reach that fish. Too much water. Slowed my hands down.

  Maybe go back to the shelter and get a spear and go for it that way. I dunno...

  Let me try it again before I go that route....

  Argh! Stupid fish! Get in my hands, already!

  Fine! Forget it! I'm going back to get a spear and try my luck that way. Water's too cold anyway to be splashing around, and yes! My undergarment is wet, too! Nice! I'll get you, my fine fishy friend!

  I grab my tunic and kilt and put them on, with the belt properly donned over them, put my boots on and stomp my way back to my camp and look for the spears I saw yesterday...

  I see them, but my eyes caught something else, too. Something I didn't see in the low light in the evening. Bows! With arrows! And they look in good condition... I guess.... the one I'm holding certainly feels comfortable in my hand. Well made...

  I find a small leather container to put some arrows in; seven,
and take the bow. This might actually come in handier than a spear!

  Do I know how to use this? I guess I'll see...

  I go back to the stream, take an arrow from the container slung across my back and notch it on my bow. It seems to be the right way to use it...

  I see the fish! Is it the same one? I hope so, I say to myself with a snear on my face and pull the string back to my cheek, sighting up the fish in the water as it lazily hovers under the surface of the stream. I... let loose the arrow!——

  Ouch! The bow's string launches the arrow, but the string also scraped across my bare forearm and smarted something fierce! Ow!

  I rub my arm, now red from the impact, and consider plunging it into the freezing water.... to.... what? Make it feel better? Eh, worth a shot.

  Ha! “Worth a shot!” My arrow.... a shot.... silly!

  I dunk my arm into the water, and it does start to feel better. How did I...? hmmm.....

  My arrow! Where is it? Did I get the fish, or did I miss? Probably...

  Well, I see the feathered end of the arrow sticking up out of the water... and— yes! I got the fish! First try! I guess I do know how to use this thing... great!

  I take my triumphant kill to my camp, stoke the fire a little more, then..... I'm not going to eat this with the scales still on! And what about the guts?

  I sigh; I have to clean it...

  Do I even remember how to do this, too?

  Let's see... its already dead, the arrow took care of that. I take my knife, and try to start knocking off the scales— nope, not that way. From head to tail is not working; the knife just slides right off. Go from tail to head.... yes, that's working. Careful not to have the sharp edge of the knife bite into the fish. Especially not into my fingers as I'm holding this thing! Actually, I should use the spine of the knife for this part. Now the other side of it....

  OK... now... just slice it open on the.... on the..... bottom part.... and... pull the guts out......

  …....

  Stop stalling! Just do it!—

  Have I heard that some where before...?

  OK! Do this already!

  I carefully use the tip of the knife to open the flesh of the fish, at the bottom most part of the body, and cut the fish down to the head of it. Good thing my knife is sharp enough to do this!