Mythical Beasts

Chapter 2 : The two Pieces

Chapter 2

Finally, he was training. Brana sat in the west tower looking down into the west courtyard. It seemed some days he forgot what his goal was.

He was so happy, so carefree. Behaviour the villagers always copied, most of them forgot what the dangers outside was like.

Those brought in never seemed to adapt to the peace. It was worrisome, as a soon to be Royal and protector of what they had raised so far.

She could not blame them for never forgetting what they had seen. What they had experienced, it was only 12 years for her and she had never forgotten. What they looked like. The fear in running.

Sometimes it felt that being the survivor was the most painful experience. Living on with the memories seemed to be the most hard. Sometimes in her dreams, she felt as if she could erase the mist blocking her real parents’ faces.

When she woke, she tried to forget about her need to see. The dead were the dead and there was no bringing them back.

Those new to this safe life, the fear would never go away. It was something many of the villagers would never understand. The soldiers with her brother and Father. Those who fought the monsters head on.

They knew of the fear, the loss and the never-ending nightmare that was leaving the protection of the barrier. She knew what the villagers thought. They were considered fools for leaving and fighting.

Especially the women, they were the main ones, the wives. She heard the whispers from husbands on the field that their wives considered them foolish for ever leaving safety to fight.

She knew that those who only knew peace would never understand the need to fight. It was because they went out there. Because they went hunting. Because they left safety, they knew what they were fighting for.

The happiness shown by children. The blissful ignorance shown by the women and the men who did not fight. Were they wrong for fighting to protect it?

Standing and leaning out the window Brana watched her brother. He was serious as he sparred with his men. Some were on horseback and others on the ground. Putting them through the paces like this helped him too.

The enemies they faced were stronger, cunning and dangerous. Brana shivered even though the day was hot. One never got over the fear. It lived with you forever that had to be the cruelest way to die.

Eaten alive by the snout of an Orc or Ogre. She could only hope that was not her fate. She would much rather fall in a battle.

She had witnessed although Father would have preferred her not to. She could remember her parents dying. The sound of crunching. It was difficult to think as oneself as a meal.

To see oneself as food, it was a difficult process. Turning away from watching her brother Brana pushed back the rising feelings.

She had to prove herself, to Dusan to Father, all the generals. She had to make herself stronger. If only for the sake of her own feelings.

A group of maids and chamber ladies passed her not one paying her any mind. Brana swept past them ignoring the giggle she heard when she went around the corner.

It was something she could complain about but she was not bothered. You could not demand respect from these women. It was better for them to go along as they were and keep such behaviour away from her brother.

She was not too sure, why she was so disliked. Only the Generals of Father knew she was found. To everyone she was his daughter. She was Dusan’s sister. Yet they insisted on shunning her, the women anyway.