Even after a long day Cain had no trouble falling asleep. He had been taught by his mother long ago how to calm himself and sleep practically on command. It helped him get as much rest as possible for her morning training she made the boys go through. WIthout this technique, a simple breathing control trick, he may have stayed awake for hours with his thoughts lingering on the tough challenges ahead.
Training never seemed to stop, even in his new dreams, as Cain clashed blades with Rosalyn. In this new dream realm he could do whatever he wanted, and he wanted to get stronger. It was strange fighting your sword, holding your sword, while she also held a copy of your sword, while she herself was your sword.
“You’re not bad, Cain,” Rosalyn teased as their blades clashed with one another. Even though it was a psychic connection to the dream world, Cain felt his body burning with exhaustion. “But the problem with fighting me, with me?” A simple twist of her wrist and her blade sunk underneath Cain’s crossguard allowing her to disarm him, “I know exactly what to expect, and what you’ll do next.”
She pointed the tip of the blade at Cain’s throat. He had been beaten. “I didn’t do too bad though,” he said while moving the blade with his fingers.
“You were a bit, how should I put this, distracted?” Cain felt like he was being read like an open book. “You’re thinking about Abel again, am I right?”
He considered lying, but in her realm Rosalyn would have known the truth, so he nodded. She already knew exactly what Cain was thinking but humored him in conversation for the sake of politeness. It was her power, empathy. That and reading minds.
Rosalyn sheathed her sword, a copy of the magical blade, and it disappeared in a prismatic light. “I think we’ve done enough training for tonight. You need to rest.”
Cain nodded. “Yeah, maybe you’re right.”
The fields of pink grasses in Rosalyn’s domain felt plush and made a great place for rest. Just like in previous nights, Cain was able to dream of whatever he wanted. It was still a new concept for Cain. He was starting to like sleeping now that he could dream of whatever came to mind.
Rosalyn sat beside his head and gently ran her hand through his golden curls. “What would you like to dream about tonight?”
Resting his hand on his chest, Cain gently touched the scar that was given to him by his brother a few nights ago. The two had only barely started talking again after years of neglect. Now they were separated again with a secret plan to make everyone think they were at odds with one another. The plan had to be so convincing that Cain was stabbed through the back, their mother’s sword running clean out of his chest. It was a very convincing gesture of hatred. Ideally, in a few days, the two would regroup again and lay low from a coven of witches hunting after them. At least for now the coven thought Cain was not a threat and was still their pawn.
It was a complicated plan. Cain hated it. He wanted to live in a world where that never had to happen. Not so deep down he was expecting Abel to never reach back out to him, for the act they put on to be more genuine and vengeful than Cain was led on to believe. He had no choice to trust Abel when Cain never gave a reason to be trusted in the first place. Guilt loomed over him as he remembered how, long ago, Cain gave Abel a scar just like the one he now had.
He never replied to her question, as the realm shifted away from soft rolling hills. Rosalyn’s realm bowed to his desire and shaped itself into another memory long since passed. His being felt like it was being violently washed away, like a stained shirt against a washboard, as he tumbled back into the mind of a thirteen year old teenager.
…
Each morning before his morning routine, Cain would wake up in his bed and stare at the wall. The makeshift wall that he focused on separated his old childhood room into two. Their mother had said, “young boys deserve their privacy after all,” but Cain knew that she had it built to spare his brother from himself. If Cain was going to ignore Abel then Abel could have the solace of pure isolation instead of being ignored and pushed away.
The wall was far from soundproof. A few minutes of silent reflection and he could hear Abel get out of his creaky bed, the soft opening and shutting of drawers, and the door of his twin brother’s room slowly closing behind him. Then,
Knock knock, knock
A secret knock that the two had made long ago, translating to “Are you awake yet/still?”
Cain swallowed, afraid to answer. Years ago in Atticus’s magic class he had learned about spells that could cause harm with just a single word. He was always afraid that somehow he’d use it against Abel, despite it being an advanced spell that few could even hope to pursue let alone know.
“Good morning, Cain.” Abel said through the door. Every morning he did this. Cain stopped responding to Abel’s morning greetings around the age of eight or nine. With a sigh, Abel walked away to the bathroom. Cain sat in bed, waiting for the sound of the sink to stop so he could leave his own room and brush his teeth without bumping into his brother.
That was pretty much how all their interactions went nowadays. After a few close calls of harming Abel, Cain had decided it would be best if he was never around him anymore. He couldn’t accidentally push Abel down the stairs if they never played tag. There wasn’t a risk of Cain hitting Abel too hard if he refused to do sword training with him too. Maybe one day Abel will stay away from Cain for good so an accident couldn’t happen, at least that’s what Cain’s paranoia told him. One day Abel would understand, that’s what Cain hoped for at least.
He didn’t want to be a killer, and he didn’t want to be looked at like a killer. Cain didn’t know if Abel knew about the prophecy. If he had to guess with how Abel still treated him with kindness, Abel probably was ignorant of his own fate. Cain would never tell him though. He didn’t know how he could muster up the words.
After getting ready he went downstairs, and found an unusual sight of breakfast prepared by their mother. “Ah, good morning chickie,” she said in a sing-song voice while placing a plate on the table. It was rare for them to eat breakfast together nowadays, and when they did, it was always uncomfortable.
He didn’t want to sit by Abel. Glancing up he saw his brother halfheartedly waving, a flash of the nightmare he had last night colored Abel’s face red, and it quickly disappeared. A hallucination. With a heavy heart he waved back, and Cain sat across from him.
The first few bites were silent as each of the members of the family tried to get used to being all together. A full cup of tea later, Karina gathered her words and cleared her throat.
“Boys,” her voice was a bit shaky at first, “next week is your birthday. And I wanted to make it very special.” Cain put his toast down as he focused all his attention on his mom. “You both have done so well with your sword training, I think it’s time we put your skills to the test. Tomorrow we’re going off on an adventure, just the three of us.”
Cold sweat crawled down Cain’s neck. Thoughts of all the worst outcomes took over his mind. Time with Abel, away from the doctors and clerics while he had a sword? It was like his mom was begging Cain to kill Abel.
“But we still have school for a few more days,” Abel said, cocking his head to the side.
“Not to worry, I’ve already had the chance to speak with your homeroom teacher Atticus. She says that you can make up your work when you get back.”
Abel sighed in relief, sitting back in his chair. Abel cared more about his grades than Cain did. In the corner of his sight Cain could see cautious optimism in Abel’s eyes.
“I want the both of you to go around town and get some information for me. Reconnaissance is the first step in planning out a proper quest.” Their mom moved a plate away from the table and came back with a map of the town. “One of the ranchers nearby came to me asking for help with a monster problem.” She traced her finger around the Brewer ranch that was a half hour away from their home. Both Cain and Abel gulped at the same time. “They say that their cows have been attacked during the night. Their numbers are thinning and the Brewers are getting worried that they’ll run out of cows! All that remains in the morning are picked over carcasses. I have some ideas about what may be happening, but I want you two to investigate and report back with some clues. Research is a very important part of an adventure after all.”
She smiled at her boys as she took their cleaned off plates, “And we’ll meet up for dinner tonight and make a plan!” She kissed the top of Abel’s head, then Cain’s, as she started to clean up after breakfast. She left the two of them alone to absorb what had just been said. Karina’s mind was already made up, and the question on whether they wanted to come or not was never presented. Cain felt his heart flip in his chest in excitement to prove himself, and worry about everyone’s safety.
“Cain,” Abel spoke towards his brother, “this is very, exciting.” Abel didn’t seem like he could properly convey his thoughts. “Do you think we’re actually ready for a real adventure?”
Cain nodded slowly in response. The two had been sword training for almost three years, and they were both itching to practice against something better than the dummy in the backyard. When he grew up, Cain wanted to travel the world and be a hero. This could be the perfect start for his career in being a hero. He knew he was skilled, and he knew Abel was skilled as well. If they were more confident the answer would have been a resounding yes.
“Where should we start looking for clues?” Abel’s voice was filled with a spark of hope, yearning for his enthusiasm to be reciprocated. Cain could tell that his brother was nervous as he watched Abel rub his fingers together. It was a tellthat Abel probably didn’t know that he had.
“Actually, I think it would be best if we split up.” Cain bit the inside of his cheek to distract him from what would come next.
“Oh. Yeah, that’s a good idea. We can get more information that way.” Abel’s voice sank as he looked down. “We’ll split up. Work as a team, by ourselves.” Cain could only wonder if Abel would look away when he was forced to kill his brother.
…
“You know, I get that you’re scared of hurting Abel but I really doubt you would accidentally kill him by just talking to him,” Wes said while tossing an apple into the air. Cain and Abel had split up to look for clues, with Abel heading to Brewer ranch while Cain went to find his best friend Wes.
“It could happen,” Cain shrugged. The two were walking downtown towards their school, Wolf Academy. “Your mom didn’t tell me how I would kill him. Or when it would happen. Or where it-”
“I know Cain,” Wes butted in, “really I do. I just feel bad for him is all. I’d hate it if you gave me the cold shoulder after all. It’s really messed up. It’s been like, eight years and you still haven’t told him about it. That’s kind of cruel.”
“It’s not like I enjoy ignoring him! I just don’t want to hurt him.”
Wes sighed, tossing the apple towards Cain who promptly caught it.
“All I’m saying is, if the two of you had to fight I’m placing my money on Abel. There’s no way you’re going to accidentally cause any harm, hell you might not be able to do it on purpose either!”
“Ah shut up,” Cain couldn’t help but laugh. The two shared a smile as Cain dug his thumbs into the top of the apple and split it in two for sharing. “I’m plenty strong, see?” He wasn’t sure how else to respond to Wes’s badgering.
The first stop on their investigation, and realistically their only stop since they planned to go to the creek after, was the library at Wolf Academy.
“I’m pretty sure I have some ideas on what ate the cows, but I wanted to double check,” Wes explained as he held the door for Cain. “It’s not like there are a lot of dangerous monsters around this part of the world anyways, it really narrows down our options.”
Cain walked past, accidentally brushing his arm against Wes’s hand, which made Wes step back. “Are you okay?”
“Haha yeah, just a tickle is all,” Wes grinned nervously and quickly closed the front door of the school hall behind him. Cain felt like Wes looked a bit more red than usual, and chalked it up to the change in lighting.
The school had a central courtyard with a large tree for students to gather around between classes. All the children of Meadow’s Burough attended this preparatory academy. Children as young as five could be found playing tag during recess, and teens on the cusp of adulthood might be found studying their textbooks in the shade of the boughs of the tree. For the veterans of the school, like Wes and Cain, they could use its branches to point towards certain parts of the school. The twisted branch that always seemed to have leaves on it pointed towards the library on the first floor, and the study hall on the second floor. The branch with the swing attached led to the dining hall. There was even a root that sprung from the ground that pointed towards the clean boy’s bathroom. The dirty one was never pointed at by the tree.
The boys followed the verdant branch and entered the library. The librarian promptly giving them a warning for being too loud.
“We didn’t even do anything yet!” Cain protested.
“Too loud!” the librarian said. The two rolled their eyes and giggled at each other once they were out of the librarian’s line of sight.
While Wes perused through some of the books Cain found himself dawdling towards the exit by the courtyard. Wes would occasionally come over to ask some questions and Cain would give a quick answer.
“Did your mom say anything about bite marks on the cows?”
“Shhhhhhh.”
“Uhhh, I think so?” Cain replied in a whisper. She didn’t.
Wes would place a book back and take out another. It was labelled something like Predators in Western Aquila. “How many monsters were there?”
Cain shrugged. He hadn’t even considered that there might be multiple.
“Right, you’re being very helpful,” Wes said while rolling his eyes. “How do I always end up doing the book work for the both of us?”
“I don’t know,” Cain walked over to Wes and rested his elbow on his shoulder, “but I do appreciate it!” Wes felt strangely warm.
“You two are very loud,” the librarian grumbled. They weren’t being loud, the librarian just had ridiculous standards.
“Yeah yeah whatever,” Wes replied with a grin. He turned his attention back towards Cain. “You could help a little bit though, or at least try,” and he pushed the book of beasts into Cain’s chest.
“I’ll try,” Cain grabbed the book and quickly flipped through. He was pleasantly surprised to see a good variety of pictures on the pages of the book. Some of the pictures didn’t make sense but they were still cool.
Cain knew that it would take a while for him to read through the book and he always felt a bit nervous reading in front of Wes. Wes had taught Cain how to read when they were younger, but Wes’s words at the time always stuck with him. “Wait, you can’t read? How did you get to the second grade without knowing how to read?” It was embarrassing, especially since even now he read so slowly. Cain took the book outside with him to the courtyard and sat underneath the tree while Wes stayed inside the library.
Flipping through the book Cain came across a few monsters of interest. The first entry he found interesting had the largest and most detailed illustration in the entire book.
Red Dragon: This variety of dragon relies on its incredible strength and magic to establish itself in its self proclaimed territory. They live through eras with incredible intelligence and fearful power. A red dragon is capable of crossing the continent in mere hours, bringing heat waves with each of its wing flaps.
“No, probably not the cow killer. Though that would be cool.”
Giant Scorpion: These creatures are similar to a normal scorpion, but can grow to be as large as an adult humanoid. Their venom is not very potent, though their stingers are large enough to deliver wounds that could easily be mistaken for a spear’s. Residing mostly in the western deserts, they make their homes in the sands to keep warm and to detect incoming prey with their seismic senses.
“Hm, maybe not.”
Cain became so invested in this book, trying to find more appealing images to look at, that he didn’t notice the woman standing above him.
“Cain, what a pleasant surprise to see you reading during your free time.” Cain looked up from the pages of the large book and saw his homeroom teacher of eight years staring down at him, Atticus. “If only I could get you to read in class,” she chuckled to herself.
“Professor Atticus,” Cain closed the book and stood to properly address her.
She placed her fingers on the cover of the book. She quickly scanned over the cover. “A book of beasts, how interesting. I assume this is related to the quest that you’ll be going on soon, am I right?”
Cain looked up at her, he mostly saw his reflection in her glasses. In a year or two they would be the same height, but for now she was still barely taller than him. He nodded.
“Your mom told me all about your quest. She also told me that she was going to ask you and your brother to prepare for tomorrow, do some investigating.” She looked around, no doubt searching for Abel, and shook her head in disappointment.
“Wes thought it’d be a good idea to check out the library,” Cain confessed pointing towards the library a few paces away, “he’s inside looking at some other books right now.”
“Ah, well I think you’re both on the right path with your research,” she gave a wink. “Books are an excellent resource for ‘reconnaissance’,” she said with air quotes, in a voice that sounded like she was slightly poking fun at Karina.
“Wait, do you know what happened to the cows?”
“I have a pretty good idea about what’s happening. What about you, do you have any clues?”
“Well,” Cain opened the book and started to flip through it looking for an answer. He didn’t even realize that he had paused at the dragon page again until Atticus began to softly laugh.
“I don’t think so. Maybe one day you can deal with a dragon though,” she smiled as her hands flipped through the pages, landing on the first page. “I’d start with something more simple.”
Cain nodded and looked down at what she was subtly pointing at. The table of contents… her finger lightly tapping the number 33. He flipped to that page and read aloud, “Dire wolves?”
“Interesting guess. What makes you think your mom is taking you to hunt down dire wolves?” Cain didn’t even know what the difference was between a normal wolf and a dire wolf. But he did know a bit about wolves.
He couldn’t read the entire page in front of her, that would take too long, but the words “large” and “hunt in packs” really stood out to him. “Wolves are cautious, and they hunt down prey like cows if they have the chance. And wolves have a place they’re comfortable hunting in, so killing cows every night isn’t random if they’re in its territory?” He doubted his words but knew what he was saying was true, thanks to the magazines his mother had purchased about animals that he obsessed over years ago.
Atticus nodded, seemingly satisfied with his answer. “You are quite the sleuth,” she teased as she patted his head. Atticus had been a family friend since before he was born, and from what he was told, Atticus always tried to make a learning experience for Cain and Abel even before they could speak!
“You must be very excited,” she continued to say as she sat down by the tree, inviting Cain to do the same. He held the book tight and plopped himself down next to her. The lack of response made her even more interested in what he might say next. “Maybe a bit nervous?” she asked with a rising inflection.
Cain swallowed, and nodded.
Atticus looked down at the grass and played with a wildflower. “It’s okay to be nervous, Cain. That’s a part of trying something new after all.” He nodded again, half listening. He could tell from her voice that her smile faded. “Tell me what you’re thinking about.”
Cain had only told one person about his prophecy, Wes. It felt like nobody else would quite understand. He didn’t want to be looked at like a monster, or imprisoned for a crime he had yet to commit, or something even worse. He didn’t want to tell her what he was actually thinking, but he also didn’t want to lie. So, he sat there, paralyzed.
Atticus plucked the wildflower from the ground and held it out for her to see each detail. “I think you’ll have a great time. It’ll be exciting, dangerous, thought provoking… perhaps you’ll use some of that knowledge I teach in class?” she playfully elbowed Cain which elicited a soft laugh. “Most importantly though, you’ll have fun. It’s better to enjoy the moments we have than to worry about losing them. Even if those moments are shorter than we would want.” She twirled the flower in her hands before tucking it behind Cain’s ear. Her words echoed in his head, replacing some of his worries with confusion. He wasn’t quite sure what she was trying to say.
Atticus stood and held out her hand for Cain to take, “You should check in on Wesley now, don’t you think?”
…
The rest of the day Cain and Wes goofed off in the library. They were eventually kicked out after being too noisy with their jokes and laughter, and they retreated to their fort in the woods by the creek. Long ago Abel used to play in the fort, but nowadays Abel spent his time with Cordelia and her witch friends. The Coven, is what Cain and Wes called them.
When the sun began to set the two bid each other farewell.
“Try not to die tomorrow, or something,” Wes teased with a smile.
“I can’t die!” Cain boasted while gently pushing him. Wes seemed to stumble a bit while laughing.
“Well then come back safe.” Wes looked past Cain’s shoulder towards Abel who was walking up from the street, “the both of you.” Wes patted Cain’s shoulder and walked away towards his home deeper in town. He didn’t stick around to speak with Abel.
“Cain?” Abel seemed surprised to see him, “did you get any good leads?”
Cain felt his hands go clammy. “Uh- yeah. Yes, I did.”
Surely Abel was used to Cain’s strange behavior, but the look of defeat never seemed to leave his eyes. “That’s good…” Abel crossed his arms as he approached, stopping a few paces from Cain. “I did too. I hope that mom agrees with my theory, I have a pretty good one.” Silence lingered as his words petered out.
“Cain,” Abel’s voice suddenly became more confident, “I need to ask you something.” Cain looked up at his brother, a feeling of a heavy weight dropped from his chest all the way to his feet as if he was about to be scolded. “Why are you always, why won’t you,” Abel stumbled on his words, flustered, before his moment was cut off with an uninvited guest.
“Well if it isn’t my favorite boys,” a man’s voice came from around the corner, followed by the smell of a lit cigar held in the smoke stained teeth of a burly man. “Ain’t momma expecting her ‘chickies’ to be home?”
The feeling of guilt was quickly replaced with annoyance. “We were just heading home, sir.” Cain puffed out his chest as he stepped to stand beside Abel. This creep always found himself harassing them in public and stalking their mother.
“No need for formalities, boy.” He continued to approach the twins.
“We’ll tell our mom you said hi, Garret,” Abel grabbed Cain’s wrist and tugged at it. Cain didn’t like talking about their mom in front of him because it was the only thing Garret seemed to care about. He cared too much, it made Cain feel dirty.
Garret continued his prowl, inches away from running over Cain. He stopped just short of stepping on Cain’s shoes. “Nonsense,” he placed both hands on the twin’s shoulders, “it’s too late for kids like you to be out unaccompanied. You could get hurt,” he squeezed on their shoulders, “I’ll bring you home to your momma.”
It was almost reflexive with how quickly the boys slapped away Garret’s hands. Yes, Cain and Abel had a rocky relationship, but they stood together to protect their mom from the suitor. With their dad gone Garret felt like he had a shot at scoring what he called ‘the hottest piece of ass in town.’ The two were really sick of his behavior and had almost no more room for manners and pleasantries.
“We’ll be fine,” Cain huffed out. Garret’s slimy smile faded as the twins stared down the man.
Taking a drag from his cigar, Garret blew his smoke down into Cain’s face. “I insist.”
“We’re not scared of you, you know,” Abel said somewhat scared. Cain felt nervous too, staring up at the vulgar man. He gently nudged Abel, and the two stood side by side in a fighting stance.
Garret may have been large and intimidating, to a certain degree, but Cain and Abel were being trained by a retired paladin to become adventurers. Whatever fight they offered would guarantee, at the very least, a commotion and a nasty bruise for Garret.
Garret huffed, a puff of smoke leaving his nostrils. Even a man like Garret with half a working brain knew better than to fight both of them in the middle of the street. “Finally working together, eh? Easy there boys, no need for trouble.” He flicked the ash of his cigar towards their feet. “I see that you’re busy. I’ll be sure to visit Karina when she’s not preoccupied.” He backed away from the twins and left them alone, slinking away into the night until the dim light of the end of his cigar was almost nonexistent.
The two sighed, loosening their stance. Cain let out a nervous laugh as he realized his chest was pounding. Garret was a creepy guy, who knows what would have happened if he ran into him by himself.
“We make a good team, I think,” Abel said, glancing at Cain.
“Yeah, I guess so.”
Whatever Abel wanted to say before, it seemed like he decided to hold his tongue and keep it reserved for himself. It was silent, as they walked the rest of the way home.
…
At dinner the boys presented their ideas to their mom. She seemed rather pleased with their findings. “I think you both did a great job today gathering clues and information. Going on a quest blind can prove fatal after all. I agree that we will most likely be coming across a pack of dire wolves.” There was no mention about the lone wolf Garret at the table.
After dinner Cain again slept through his recurring nightmare. After years of torment he was able to mostly drown it out and get through the night with barely a memory of what he dreamt of. It was the same dream each night after all. Even with blocking it out he still woke up not feeling fully rested.
Abel knocked on Cain’s door and the two did their dance of morning “interaction” as usual. After a short wait Abel left, and Cain was free to get ready. His drawers had been plucked at by his mom who had packed their bags the day before. Every detail of this quest seemed to be taken care of by his mom, down to the last pair of emergency socks she no doubt packed for him.
Descending down the stairs Cain was greeted with Karina and Abel making the final preparations. “Good morning Cain,” Karina said as she cinched her bag, “would you help Abel with his bag? He seems to be having trouble with it.”
Cain slumped down the last few steps and went to Abel’s side. He was struggling with a zipper. As Cain helped out Abel went red with embarrassment. “That was easy,” Cain couldn’t help but give a small chuckle.
“Yeah yeah,” Abel hung the bag on his shoulder. Cain got his bag ready to go too, already filled with clothes, survival tools, rope, a sleeping bag…everything seemed in order. After checking he zipped it up with no issue handling the zipper. On top of the sack was his folded up tent, cinched to the straps with rope. He made sure to pull on the knots to check their integrity.
The last piece of equipment was strapped at his hip, his sword. It was a simple steel shortsword. Their mother always said steel was better for boys who frequently forgot to care for it. Despite her remarks Cain made extra sure to keep it sharp and polished.
“Let me double check one last time,” Karina said as she took the bags from the boys to the table, rummaging through and making a checklist in her head of what was there and what wasn’t.
“Alright chickies,” Karina smiled down at her two boys, returning their bags, “we’re off on our first adventure!” She stood proud with her own sword strapped to her side, a beautiful enchanted longsword that seemed to harbor stolen stars from the sky in its deep blue blade. Her smile started to dip as the twins stood there, not celebrating with her.
“I’m excited,” Cain said, trying to convince both himself and Karina. He felt guilty for ruining this moment for her.
Abel’s eyes shimmered as he looked at Cain. “Me too!” Karina’s smile returned, a true smile, as she opened the door and invited her boys to step into their first adventure.
…
They left town in the twilight of dawn. Crickets still sung in the dark and Meadow’s Borough was still in a lulled slumber. By the time they got to Brewer Ranch the sun had barely passed over the horizon.
“So, Abel,” Karina walked in front of the two to stop them, “taking a look around, where do you think we should go?” She waved her hand around the outskirts of the ranch. Some of the cows had come out to eat, but avoided certain areas of the field that were tainted and discolored with blood. A sleeping rancher, no doubt tasked with keeping guard of the ranch at night, was sleeping against a fence post.
“Well,” Abel scanned the surrounding area, “yesterday I noticed that part of the fence over there was broken.” Abel pointed at a part of the fence that bordered the woods. “There was also some fur, and claw marks. I think that’s where they got in. So I guess we go into the woods?”
Karina smiled with pride, “Very clever! And Cain,” she turned her head to look at the other twin, “how will we find the dire wolves in the woods?”
Cain hummed to himself as he stroked his chin. He wasn’t quite sure but had to guess to not sound lost. “Tracks?”
“That’s a decent start,” Karina said, placing a hand on her hip, “but it won’t be reliable for long. Dire wolves are excellent hunters, always on the move and they make a good amount of effort to remain unseen. We’ll look for tracks, but what we really want to look for are droppings and fur. They like to scratch themselves on trees in their territory.”
Cain nodded and mumbled, “That was a trick question, huh?”
Karina laughed, “Not quite a trick question, but a tricky one. You’re on the right track chickie.”
Hunting down a pack of normal wolves was no easy feat for two teenage boys and their mom. But tracking down a pack of dire wolves was a beast all on its own. Karina mentioned their larger size and sharper mind, two traits that made them more dangerous than a normal wolf. Another difference, she mentioned, was that they were confident enough in their hunting skills to regularly seek out people as prey.
The deeper they went into the woods the closer the two boys stuck to their mother. Somewhere along the way they had stopped looking for more clues and had started to cling closer to Karina.
She was, after all, a hero not too long ago. A true seasoned adventurer. She would point out how to tell when a tree was about to die, or point to a hole in the ground and go on about the snakes that made it their home, she even stopped Abel from stepping into what she called a fairy ring.
She yanked him away from the ring as laughter seemed to taunt him. Cain looked around trying to find a clue as to where this laughter was coming from. The laughter sounded high pitched and was mocking them.
“You won’t have my boy,” Karina grunted under her breath as she drew her sword. It sparkled like the night sky, and with a flurry of swings that resembled a dance she made stardust spring forth from the blade. The dust shined like constellations. As it descended down it crackled against the mushrooms of the fairy ring, burning it away in starfire.
“That was easy enough. If you can help it, never deal with demons or fae.” She sheathed the blade, smiling at her boys who had stars of adoration in their eyes. “Let’s keep on going. I think I saw a tree not too far back with some dire wolf fur on it.”
Occasionally she would stop and ask the boys what they should do next. Cain would scratch his head while Abel looked around and tried to make an educated guess. Cain got the impression that Karina knew exactly where to go and was trying to have them see something they weren’t looking at. No matter how lost Cain felt he knew that their mom was in complete control of the situation.
Cain spotted a strange rock formation at the foot of a mountain they came across. It had a gentle stream that pooled into a pond where birds were drinking from. With quick investigation it was clear that the spring had been claimed by their prey, the pack of dire wolves they were hunting. The Fowlers agreed to continue up into the mountain. They were certain that the den resided somewhere on the mountain.
….
They settled for lunch after Karina stared down a hungry looking bear on the mountain trail. “See her beautiful brown fur? That’s a grizzly bear, very dangerous,” she said as she sat on a large stone that was bathing in the sun. “She’s just protecting her babies though. From mom to mom I told her we aren’t a threat.”
“It looked like you were just growling at her,” Cain said, sitting by her feet.
“She kind of sounded like it too,” Abel added. Cain laughed along with his brother.
“Call it whatever you want, the important thing is we are okay! You two are keeping up really well.” She took out a water skin and took a swig from it.
Cain felt his face morph into a smile, “Thanks mom. It’s a bit more scary than I would have thought though, this quest. We haven’t even fought anything yet and I feel so lost.”
“That’s true, and hopefully we won’t have to fight anything.” Cain cocked his head, feeling a bit confused as he pointed to his sheathed sword. She explained, “We should never have fighting be our goal. It is a last resort to protect ourselves, not to hurt others. I don’t even want to fight these dire wolves. I just want to scare them away from town. That means what happens next is unknown, which can certainly be scary.” She held out the water skin for Cain to take, “We can change a scary future by making a better moment in the present, don’t you think?” Cain nodded before taking a sip.
Cain didn’t know what to make of that.
“Are you sure we should stop here?” Cain looked around at the rocky mountain’s surroundings. The path they were on was right on the edge and felt narrower than it probably was. He also couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being watched. Cain glanced over at Abel who looked away, but still, that strange feeling of being looked at remained.
“The path keeps going like this for a few hours. We’ll be okay, especially since we’re all sticking together.” Karina said as she picked up a clump of fur from the ground to study. Cain nodded and felt assured by his mother’s words.
While resting for lunch Karina had the boys do a check in on their packs, just to make sure everything was still in place. “What?!” Cain looked at his pack and checked every corner, “My tent is gone!””
Karina shook her head in disappointment, “Hmm, it looks like this rope wasn’t tightened properly and it fell off.” She held the ropes at the top of the bag that held his tent in place.
Cain felt his face go red and hot. He swore that he checked each part before leaving the house. He even remembered checking the knots to make sure they were secure.
“I suppose you’ll have to room with one of us tonight chickie.” Karina sighed walking over and holding out her sheathed sword towards Cain. “Sword swings, get to it while we clean up.”
Cain groaned as he stood up, holding onto his mother’s blade. Whenever they got in trouble they would do what she called “sword swings,” where they had to stand in place and practice their sword swinging technique to be as controlled and perfect as they could make it. Her sword was much larger than Cain’s, much heavier too. He would usually only have to do swings with her sword instead of his own when he was in real trouble. With each labored swing it left a trail of stardust in its path.
“Abel, make sure that Cain keeps it up until I come back. I’m heading back down to refill the water in my water skin.” Abel nodded as Karina left down the mountain.
As soon as Karina was out of eyesight Cain relaxed his form. “You heard mom,” Abel said while packing up his bag, “You have to keep doing the sword swings until she comes back.”
Cain rolled his eyes as he started swinging again. “I let you have a break when you get in trouble,” he groaned, watching the stardust from the sword. She wouldn’t be back for another ten minutes at least if she was going back to the spring.
Abel was about to respond, but seemed to catch himself before continuing. He looked down back at his bag and turned away from Cain. Even with his back turned Cain had a pretty good idea about what Abel had wanted to say.
There wasn’t much to do during this exercise, besides tune out the world and stare at whatever seemed remotely interesting. There were rocks, more rocks, a falling pebble-
Cain stopped and watched the pebble slide down the face of the mountain. His gaze traveled to the top of the ledge that the trail hugged. At the top sat a behemoth of a wolf, slowly encroaching on the Fowler’s makeshift pit stop. Its teeth were flared, red beedy eyes glaring down, and it looked ready to pounce.
Cain’s chest felt as if it was going to burst. Every muscle in his body tightened, but his brain just couldn’t keep up with his racing thoughts. It was clear that the wolf was ready to make Abel its next snack. If it was so confident to attack then it was likely others were close by as well. They were in the heart of its territory.
“ABEL DUCK,” Cain gripped the magic blade and swung it up with as much might as his sore arms could muster, sending a swirl of stardust at the dire wolf above. Years of training (getting shouted at and instructed by their mom during combat lessons) paid off for Abel as he immediately followed command, bracing himself as stardust exploded into bursting radiant sparks like fireworks.
A mix of yelping and rocks tumbling down shook the mountain. With most of the flair of the stardust gone Abel stood at attention, drawing his sword and accessing the situation. Cain turned to have his back against his brothers, and saw more dire wolves scattered around the rocks of the mountain path above.The dire wolves up the path were determining if they should charge at the two boys.
Back to back the twins readied themselves against whatever came next. Swords may prove as a worthy weapon against dire wolves, but not against falling rocks. Even with a firm stance the two trembled as a rock slide gained more and more momentum from the explosion. The dire wolves seemed to think that their easy snack was not worth the risk of being crushed by a landslide, as they turned and raced up the mountain trail.
“We have to go up the path and get out of here,” Abel grabbed onto Cain’s hand and started to drag him up.
“What about mom?” Cain looked back down the trail.
“Cain!” Abel squeezed his hand, “Let’s go!”
Reluctantly, he let himself be dragged by Abel up the trail where the rocks seemed to be less destructive. Behind them clouds of dust rose, boulders tumbling down as the ledge the dire wolf perched on fully collapsed from the magical burst.
The rock slide became larger as one tumbling stone caused a chain reaction of multiple others. The entire mountain was shaking with more sections of the narrow path beginning to break away. It was difficult to get stable footing with the gravelly road constantly sliding beneath as well. When one of the twins lost their footing the other would catch them so they could keep going.
“Ah, Cain watch out!” He was suddenly yanked away by Abel as a pile of rocks fell exactly where Cain was standing. The yank was unexpected, and he felt his footing slip completely in the shifting gravel. He fell to the ground close to the edge with a hard thud. With a firm grip he managed to bring Abel down with him.
Abel slipped out of sight as he fell. Cain’s hand suddenly felt empty, and his blood went cold as he heard his brother scream. Cain couldn’t tell if the mountain was still shaking or if his heartbeat was battering his entire body. He scrambled to his knees to look over the edge, his heart falling further than the height of the cliff.
Abel clung on to an embedded rock, the sound of clanking metal from his falling sword was barely perceivable with the rock slide at Cain’s back. He looked up at Cain with tears in his eyes, before looking down. He mumbled something but Cain could barely hear him.
With each beat in his chest black spots encroached on Cain’s vision. The whole world felt like it was spinning. Flashes of Abel’s face replaced everything that he could see in a delusion of paranoia. These depictions of Abel had an expression tainted with lifeless eyes in a gray world. If he wanted to save Abel…
Cain squeezed shut his eyes, refusing to look at the hallucinations. He held out his hand and begged all the gods he could think of in his head that this would work, “Grab my hand!”
It felt like an eternity passed before he felt his hand connect with his brother’s. Without opening his eyes Cain used every muscle in his body to lift Abel from the cliff side.
The ground underneath sounded like it was cracking, and Cain could feel the ground begin to slant. If he let go, if his grip loosened, if he fell, then both he and his brother would fall hundreds of feet to their doom. He didn’t want to fail.
He didn’t want his brother to die.
Cain yelled out, like a war cry rattling his bones, fueling his strength that shook throughout his entire core. Every part of his being was working beyond its limit, searing pain flashing in his arms as he pulled up.
With as much strength as Cain had he was still unable to keep a steady footing. He would not let himself fall.
Two wings of light sprung forth from Cain’s back, a spectral touch of the divine gifted to him like his healing that only came in the rarest of times. To Cain it felt like an extra pair of arms that he had to flap. He never learned how to use them properly, and it always felt strange to use. He felt like he was waving his wings without any control, hoping it made any positive impact on his efforts.
Without a second to spare, Cain was able to lift the two of them above the ground with a powerful beat of his wings. The ground underneath tumbled down the side of the mountain far below. With this limited flight Cain managed to drag himself and Abel back a few feet towards terra firma along the mountain trail. The dust was starting to settle, and the mountain began to calm down once again. Only Cain’s heartbeat shook his body.
“You saved me.” Abel said quietly. He sat up and looked at Cain through his long hair. The glowing aasimar wings reflected in Abel’s eyes and slowly faded from the reflection as they went away.
“Of course,” Cain replied. He slowly moved away from the edge.
“I didn’t think you would,” Abel clung his knees close to his chest. Cain could only focus on the scratches on Abel’s arms. And the guilt for causing them. “I thought you would want me to fall.”
“What? No, why would I want that?”
Abel didn’t respond. He looked down over the edge and Cain’s eyes began to sting.
“I’m sorry for making the whole mountain explode,” Cain wiped at his face and let out a small chuckle. It rattled his chest and felt like a sob. He didn’t know if he thought it was funny or if he was just nervous.
“Cain,” Abel stood up and offered his hand, “don’t apologize for saving me.”
He took his hand, “okay.”
The two boys gathered themselves and looked around at the carnage. The mountain face seemed to have changed completely. New paths would have to be made with intensive labor, while old ones were closed off for good.
“Mom?” Abel shouted over the rocks. There wasn’t a response. He gripped onto a rock to try and hoist himself up, only to stop when the rock slid out of place.
“It’s not stable,” Cain placed a hand on Abel’s shoulder. Abel tensed and Cain pulled back. “Sorry.”
Abel shook his head and cupped his hands over his mouth, “MOM!”
A few seconds went by and they could hear a faint voice calling out from a great distance. “Boys? Are you okay?” Her voice was barely audible.
Abel’s eyes lit up and Cain felt himself let out a sigh of relief. “Yeah! We’re okay!”
“Stick together,” she replied, “continue on the trail. I’ll meet you at the end.”
“Okay! I love you!” there wasn’t a response back.
Abel turned around. He looked rough, a few cuts of course, but mostly he looked scared and worried.
Moments ago Cain and Abel were side by side protecting each other and working as a team. Now they were as disconnected as ever. Cain understood all too well how quickly a life could be taken. He’d seen it every night after all, and he’d thought of it every day.
“I’m glad you’re okay. We should stick together and get to the end of the trail.” Cain crossed his arms as he spoke.
Abel looked up at Cain and met him in the eyes. “I didn’t even realize that the wolf was there.”
“A dire wolf,” Cain corrected with a sly smile.
There was no way for them to be on their own, the two would have to stick together. Cain had just saved Abel’s life, twice! He wanted to cherish the moment he had now. Even if this moment was short. For the first time in a long time, he didn’t feel scared. “So what if they’re totally gonna hunt us down now,” Cain held out his hand to Abel, “we’ll have each other’s back. Right?”
Abel looked at Cain’s hand, a smile slowly forming at the corner of his mouth. “Yeah, okay! We’ll do it together.” He laughed, “I’m not scared of any dire wolves anyways.”
“I’m not scared either.”
