And it was wielding his dagger that he won that battle, with that quick and precise strike for victory. Everything seemed to have calmed down at that moment, but he wouldn't have time to rest, for another creature had just appeared.
"Why did you close the book?" I asked, wanting to know the rest.
"You'll know the rest of the story later. Now go to sleep—tomorrow morning you have training, and right after that we'll need to take care of our plantation. We'll be harvesting some fruits tomorrow," my father said, standing up from the chair next to my bed.
My father kissed my forehead, wished me goodnight, and then left the room. I, at nine years old, was there without even imagining what was about to happen in our lives—just another night waiting to hear the rest of my father's story and preparing for the next day.
It's been a week since everything happened. I completely lost my diary, so I'll be rewriting at least the most recent events, because it's something I must never forget. I will keep my mother's teachings and customs, always writing everything about life in a diary. I just wish I could write as well as she does, but I promise to keep improving with time.
Every morning, my father and I practiced sword fighting—that's been the case since I was seven. I always wondered why I had to learn this so early, and he would just say it was for my safety. As always, before sleeping, I wrote in my diary about how my day had been, because my mother said we must preserve our memories and that writing is a great way to also keep our feelings from that moment. Not long passed until I finally fell asleep—and again, those strange dreams about a war between all kingdoms. I guess all those stories and adventures my father told me messed with my head, although I always find it very fun.
It had barely dawned when I was woken by a knock on the door—dry, single, and light, but enough to be heard.
"Good morning! Ready for your adventure?" my father asked, knocking on the door while holding one of his wooden swords. "Today will be busier; it seems the village is quite restless."
I got up with the least enthusiasm in the world, as every day. If I could, I'd sleep until noon, but as soon as the laziness passed, I thought about the amazing day I'd be missing. I quickly took a bath. In the kitchen, I had breakfast with my parents, then went to the front of the house with my two swords. At first, I didn't even like it and complained about the pain after training, but later it became quite fun—even though I ended up pretty sore.
Not long after, we were finally in a field right in front of the house, surrounded by a few small and some grand trees with a large space between them. It was perfect for our training, but we couldn't stay long that day because we had to take care of the plantation closer to the house, and my father also said the day would be quite busy. I positioned my two swords, one in each hand, and looked at my father.
"Ready?" he said, already in position and a few meters away from me. "Today I'll be harder on you since yesterday you managed to block most of the blows."
"You're the one getting old, that's for sure!" I laughed teasingly and almost burst out laughing when I saw my father's grimace.
I barely noticed, from laughing so much, and he was already there, swords coming toward me. He jumped and spun with his swords at his sides. I raised my swords and crossed them to form an "X." He was really going hard this time—so much that I couldn't even hold the blow. As soon as his first sword hit mine, I ended up throwing them toward my face, and then his second sword came down and struck the top of my head.
"Be alert, boy! If those were real swords, you'd already be done for!" my father shouted, stepping back and then coming forward with one of his swords.
I barely had time to recover from the previous blows, and all I could do was dodge to the side—but it wasn't enough. Only one of his swords was in front, the other behind him, so right after I dodged sideways, he moved the sword quickly like a horizontal slash. The blow landed squarely on my belly, which made me fall to the ground and stay there.
"Give me a break," I said, groaning in pain and barely breathing, "just until I recover."
"I'll give you a break, but no one outside will!" My father said these words and, with another horizontal strike—using the side of the wooden blade and not the edge, but this time hitting my face—I got my answer. The sound was like a slap.
He then stepped back and relaxed his arms but still held the two wooden swords.
"When something like this happens, even if you can't breathe properly, you have to pull the air in deeply and hold it for a few moments. Don't hold it for more than two seconds. Notice what's going on at the moment, then release the air forcefully while exhaling and defend yourself! Whenever you exert any strength, exhale forcefully a little of the air you just inhaled, but never run out of breath. It's important to always control your breathing. As hard as this might seem, it will work, but it has to be done within a few seconds," my father said, repositioning the swords. "Come on, once more!"
I gripped my swords as tightly as I could and stared at him. This time I paid close attention and could see him approaching—but this time with one sword lying right in front of him and the other at his side. He pulled his arm and sword quickly away from the front, and the sword at his side came like a blast toward me. Again, I put both swords in front of me forming an "X," but this time I leaned my body forward a bit, and with the momentum, I managed to hold the blow. I didn't pay attention to his other sword; by the time I noticed, it was too late. The other sword came straight for my waist, and this time it was stronger than the previous blow. I fell to my knees, barely able to breathe. I remembered my father's words and stopped the quick breaths for a long one, then held my breath. I looked at my father and got ready, but I was too slow with everything. By the time I noticed, there was a sword just about to hit the top of my head. I released the air I was holding so tightly and started breathing again, the same way it seemed like I'd just been saved from drowning. I really still hadn't quite figured out how to do it.
"You did well, but you still need more speed." He gave two soft, quick taps on my shoulder and smiled.
Those were my days, although today's training was definitely harder than the others. As usual, I threw myself on the ground and lay there stretched out like a lizard, resting as much as possible. My father also lay down on the grass, and we stared at the sky for a while while talking, then got up.
Soon after, I had to help take care of the plantation with my parents—a pretty boring part of the day because I didn't like messing with the soil. Luckily, today was fine, and we spent more time picking some fruits than doing anything else. Half the morning passed until we finally tidied everything and headed to the village. On the way, we met my father's friend, Ruphos, followed by his son, Luis, who is my friend. Ruphos was a redhead, with tanned skin and long hair in a ponytail that went down to the middle of his back. He was also bearded. Luis was also redheaded and tanned, with long hair parted in the middle falling to the sides of his face, but tied only at the back, since the hair on the sides of his head was short—just to chin height.
"Have you heard about the recent events?" Ruphos said, talking to my father. "It seems soldiers are taking more and more people, and some thieves are attacking travelers on the way to the village."
Luis just sat on the cart beside me, and we listened to their conversation, exchanging quiet hellos.
"Yes, I heard rumors yesterday before coming home. We can handle the thieves, but the real problem is the arrival of these soldiers and how many people they're taking," my father replied, shaking Ruphos' hand. "I don't know what's going on, but we can't let them take the villagers like this."
"You're right—we need to deal with this," my mother said, then glanced sideways at us. "But I think it's better to discuss it later."
I was curious, and it seemed Luis was too, but neither of us asked anything. My father and Ruphos talked about the market, and it wasn't long before Luis started babbling.
"Nice tattoo on your cheek," he teased, lightly pushing my shoulder. "Lost in training?"
"Don't be annoying. I almost did as well as yesterday," I replied, leaning my arms on the cart and staring at him.
"I heard them say your dad goes so easy on you that a fish would do better," he teased again, poking the reddish mark on my cheek.
"Ouch, it still hurts!" I grimaced when his finger touched my cheek. "And you're joking, because my dad needs to get tougher every day since I'm getting stronger! You're the one always losing fights because you keep tripping and falling flat on your face."
We traded some insults and then started laughing. Throughout the journey, we only talked about random things while our parents talked about market stuff.
After a long walk, we were finally approaching the village. It was a well-centralized village in this territory, with many houses close together, a market area, and a fountain marking the village center. This was called Vila Passos—they say it's because everyone always passes through here to sell something or restock before a trip. We stopped because our parents were talking to the village's most famous merchant duo, Merchant Karis and Merchant Jenna.
They were on their way into the village, so they saw us and waited until we got closer. I didn't care much about market things, but whenever these two were together, it meant their kids were also there, which was definitely an attraction for me and Luis since we always laughed at those two. John was Karis' son, and Mary was Jenna's daughter. Those two were always fighting so much that they seemed younger than us, even though they were about three years older.
Karis is a woman with a thin and very delicate face. She's blonde with hair long enough to reach her waist, with a single braid on the right side of her head and a long fringe parted in the middle of her face. She's so beautiful that even her best friend, Jenna, constantly praises her. What everyone is always enchanted by are her eyes—very lively and bright green in two shades. One shade is emerald green, which predominates; the other is darker, in streaks that seem to decorate her eyes. Mary once said they looked like sea waves with many green corals, but I have no idea what that is like, since I've never seen the sea or those green corals. I think that's the best I can do to describe her. Karis also has very fair and pale skin. Her son, who is also blonde, wears his hair in a simple ponytail, somewhat like Karis, but since he's a man, I don't know much more to say. They say he's handsome, and maybe he is, since girls often gather around him, which makes Mary furious.
Jenna and Mary are two redheads and look very much alike, with short, layered hair down to their shoulders and a fringe on their foreheads. They are slim but strangely strong. Each has a round face, and I even find that a bit cute. Their eyes are red with freckles under them, which I think is amazing and beautiful. As pretty as they are, everyone knows they have strong and somewhat rough personalities, so not many men are brave enough to try to flirt with either of them.
I watched Mary and John argue over who found something first. I didn't understand very well and didn't know what was found until Luis poked my shoulder and glanced sideways at our parents. I then started paying attention to them.
"So, the Red and Black Group also heard about the thieves and the guards," Jenna said, addressing my parents and Ruphos. "But did you also hear what happened last night?"
Because my parents and I have black hair and Ruphos' family has red hair, some people know us as the Red and Black Group. Well, at least that's what I think. It's the only explanation I can think of for why they call us that. Once, when it was just me and my mother taking care of our shop, I heard someone mention the name Lords Red and Black, but after my mother stared at the person and that person laughed, I never heard anyone say it again. I tried to ask about it, but I was simply ignored, and they always changed the subject, so I gave up wanting to know. If very few people called us the Red and Black Group and only explained it because of hair color, even fewer would call us Lords and want to explain something. I will ignore that for now.
"So, there were more?" my mother said, stepping forward and clenching her fist.
"Eleanor, you have no idea what's happening," Karis replied, calling my mother by her first name. "To be honest, even we don't know for sure. All we know is that…" They then looked at all of us, their children, who were paying attention to the conversation, even Mary and John. "Well, what we know is that many thieves are organizing since the soldiers are patrolling more and more."
It was even ridiculous. Even someone my age would know they just gave some excuse so they could talk about it later among themselves. Mary and John crossed their arms, staring at the adults but said nothing. Honestly, I was curious, but I was more interested in getting to the village to go with Luis to the merchant Marco's shop to buy the new sweets. He had gone to a central city—I don't even remember which—and we both asked him to bring the best sweets our money could buy. We were nine years old, so you can imagine how little we could buy; all we got were some bonbons, according to Marco, but John always said the sweets from the Central Cities were the best, and we were crazy for some, even if just a few.
Our parents stopped talking. Karis, Jenna, and their children
went ahead. We still stood there for a while, and our parents whispered for a bit, but I didn't pay much attention.
"Hey, Kyle, do you really think Marco arrived today?" Luis asked, gently nudging me with his shoulder.
"I hope so. It's been eight days since he left. He said he would be back in six, so I hope he shows up today." I put one of my hands in front of my face and whispered, "I had to sneak some coins from the store without my mom noticing."
"And me?" Luis also put a hand in front of his face and whispered, "I had to break two jars at home and blame the cat. That was the only way I could distract my dad to grab some coins."
"Very nice, huh?" said a voice from behind us. When we turned around, we saw it was my mom. "Lying to your parents for something so childish!"
"Eleanor, but they're just kids." I was hoping this defense from my dad would work. Even I thought what she said was a bit much!
"No excuses, Sirius. They took money, so they'll have to pay for it." My mom crossed her arms and gave a smile that made me fear what she was about to say. "Ruphos, what do you think about having Luis join Kyle's training tonight? After all, he not only broke jars but also stole money. Tonight's hunt will be more intense so they can make up for it."
"Honestly, I was thinking the same thing as Sirius," Ruphos scratched his head, glanced at my dad, then looked at Luis and gave a mocking smile. "They are kids, but a little extra training won't hurt."
Ruphos slapped Luis on the back, more like a light shove, while laughing at us.
Training with my dad was already tough and only happened in the mornings. With my mom, it was much worse. I'm not some forest creature who can see in the dark, and her training always involved a nighttime hunt with a bow and arrow. I've always been terrible at archery—and I still am. Just thinking about having to go out at night made me tired.
We finally resumed walking toward the village. After a few minutes, we reached its entrance. Many houses stood close together, forming alleys between them, and one wide road ran through the middle, leading to the village center. At the start of this road were a few shops, but only in the center—where the fountain was—did the true commercial hub begin, packed with all kinds of stores.
Ruphos and Luis split off in another direction. I went with my mom to the village center, to a stall where we sold produce from our farm and meat from the hunts I did with her at night. As we entered the village, a man called for my dad. Judging by his face, it didn't seem to be about the bandits or the case of the soldiers taking people. I couldn't hear clearly what they whispered, but it seemed serious, and the two of them left together. My mom and I continued on.
In the village center, there were some fixed stalls assigned to out-of-town merchants. There were many who came just to sell something. When we arrived at our stall, my mom tied the horse to a suspended post that worked like a makeshift stable. I helped her set things up, and when we finished, I asked to leave for a few minutes. Since she knew about the candy story, I told her I was going to see Marco. We had already made the deal with him, and the money was paid, so she let me go.
I headed straight to Marco's shop. It was a bit farther from our family's stall but still in the town center and not far from the fountain. His store was filled with fruit-based sweets, but especially cakes made by his wife.
Honestly, I was hoping Marco would give us a few extra treats because of his son, so the three of us could eat and play together before I had to return and help my family.
On the way, I saw some small groups of people talking quietly, looking scared. I slowed down and listened. It seemed that whenever a child got close, people would either lower their voices more or stop talking entirely. I'm not slow—it was obvious something serious was going on in the village. I kept walking until I finally reached Marco's store. Apparently, Luis's father had let him come for the same reason my mom let me go, because he arrived shortly after I did.
"Hey, Luis. Did you notice anything strange?" I nudged his shoulder and whispered.
"Of course I did. It seems like something about thieves and an invasion. I heard the word 'invasion' from some people along the way." He rubbed his hands together, which for some reason reminded me of a fly, and I let out a quick laugh. "First, let's get our candy. Then we can try to figure out what's going on. Stop laughing like a weirdo and let's go!"
Luis was even more obsessed with sweets than I was, so his craving outweighed any curiosity. As for me, I've always loved sweets, but my curiosity was stronger—especially since Marco hadn't shown up on the agreed day, and he never broke a promise. We finally tried to enter Marco's store, but the door was locked, and there wasn't even a 'closed' sign. The store wasn't just closed—he really hadn't come in.
"Unbelievable! Marco's not here again!" Luis grumbled. "I want my sweets, even just two or three, whatever, but I want them. These are sweets from the central city—I can't just forget about them! People hyped them up so much!"
"Luis, aren't you overreacting a little?" I asked, trying to calm him down, though I understood his frustration. "He never breaks a deal. Shouldn't we be worried he didn't show up?"
"Worried? He probably just ate our sweets himself," he muttered, lowering his head and letting his arms hang. "There's probably not even a wrapper left."
"Let's go to his house. Maybe we can find something out," I suggested.
"Great idea. On the way, we can also try to figure out what all this mystery in the village is—and maybe grab some sweets!" His curiosity now seemed to match his sweet tooth, though it was probably still second place. On the way, all he talked about were the sweets.
We continued toward Marco's house. More and more people were along the path, and the closer we got, the more people there were. When we were just a few houses away, we couldn't get any closer. A crowd had gathered and wasn't letting anyone near, let alone inside.
"Did you hear?" said a man in the crowd.
"Yeah. Sounds like someone was killed in their own home," another man replied.
"I heard there was a creepy message left inside. That's why hardly anyone's going in," said a woman nearby.
"They're looking for someone."
"Do you think it's connected to the bandit attacks?"
"No. This must be those soldiers. They've been showing up more and taking more people. I bet someone refused to go with them!"
People were whispering, accusing, and some were even crying in fear. Any sugar craving we had vanished. Luis and I slipped into an alley between the houses and circled around until we reached the back of Marco's house. A few people were guarding the alley beside his house, so we couldn't go that way. Something serious was definitely happening, and our curiosity was growing stronger. We circled around again, through more alleys, and finally reached the back of the house. Luckily, one window wasn't being watched, but it seemed locked.
"Leave it to me!" Luis was practically bouncing with curiosity.
He lifted the window as far as it would go, pulled a hairpin from his pocket, bent it, and slid it into the gap he'd opened. I wondered where he even got that pin. He twisted it and nearly reached the side latch.
"So close!" I said, impressed.
Luis bent the pin even more, leaving just a small piece to hold. He did the same move and this time managed to push the latch outward, unlocking the window.
"How did you know the kind of latch and which way to push it?" I asked.
"It's simple," he said. "If it's a window that opens upward, it has a latch that prevents it from doing so—obvious, right? And I could see through the glass that the latch was on the side, so it had to be pushed outward rather than twisted. The real surprise was how easy it moved—wasn't stiff at all. It felt brand new!"
I was impressed by his skill and knowledge, though I didn't quite understand everything he said. Where had he learned this stuff? I started to wonder.
We slowly opened the window and climbed in. We were in one of the bedrooms. It was a total mess, with lots of broken things and bloodstains. We heard voices and saw the door was open, so we hid behind the wardrobe doors.
"We'll have to alert everyone. It seems they found out and are already searching," said a voice I was sure belonged to Ruphos.
"It's my dad!" Luis whispered. "He said he had some things to do after I asked to go to Marco's. He even told me to stay with you and your family today."
"Yes. What happened here is horrific, and we can't let it slide!" said another voice—this time, my mom's. I thought she was at the stall.
"Our children, we must protect them!" said another voice, trembling with emotion.
"Jenna's right. We must protect our children and be more careful about where they go alone. Whoever did this must pay—severely!" That voice was definitely my dad's, though it scared me to hear him speak like that.
We heard a noise, and when Luis looked at me and whispered to ask what it was, he accidentally bumped his elbow against the wardrobe. I froze and started sweating. Luis looked terrified too. Footsteps approached the room.
"Let's go, we must act now," my dad said, his voice now calm—which made it seem even more suspicious.
We heard them walk past the room without stopping. Then we heard a door closing.
"That was close!" Luis whispered, his face soaked in sweat. "Do you think they heard us?"
We stepped out from behind the wardrobe and listened carefully. It seemed like no one was nearby. We left the room and found ourselves in a hallway with three bedrooms—ours, one directly across, and another at the end. At the far end of the hall was another door that probably led to the living room or an exit, which was odd, since hallways don't usually have direct exits. I didn't understand it well—we never came inside here.
"Ready?" I whispered, gently tapping Luis's shoulder. "Everything leads to the room at the end. Let's go."
Luis led the way, seemingly even more curious than I was. He stopped suddenly, eyes wide, shaking.
"What is it?" I whispered.
When I finally looked into the room and saw the scene, I understood. The room was a disaster, more so than the one we entered. Blood was everywhere—even on the ceiling. Everything was soaked in red, with little left untouched.
Three bodies were in the room: Dimy, Marco's son, a year younger than us, lay on the floor with his throat slit and one arm amputated, thrown onto a small nearby table. Marco lay near him, but only half his body remained—as if something very sharp had sliced him in two. His top half was near Dimy; the bottom half lay closer to the third body. That was Marco's wife. I barely knew her—only ever spoke to Marco and Dimy at the shop.
The worst was her condition. Until then, my body was cold, but I started feeling sick. She was sitting on the floor with her back against the wall, headless, with her head placed inside the crib. Her arms were detached and laid on the crib. Tears rolled down my face.
I was horrified and frozen. I forced myself to take a few steps. I shouldn't have. I looked inside the crib and saw her hands had been chopped up and arranged to form a writing I couldn't understand—and maybe it was better I couldn't.
Taking another step, I stepped on something. I realized too late: all their eyes had been removed, and I had just stepped on one. I only moved my eyes—not my head—and saw that her legs were cut in half. The same was true for all of them. Their limbs and organs were scattered all over the room. The more I looked, the more I noticed details I had missed in the initial shock.
I don't remember how long I stood there, just staring. Everything became a blur. The next thing I remember was the sound of our parents shouting and them hugging us. I couldn't tell if I was still crying. I remembered nothing else. When I came to, it was already mid-afternoon. I was in another house, but I had no idea how I got there. Everything from the rest of that morning until then was a blank.
I was lying in bed, drenched in sweat, eyes wide open. I turned to see Luis sitting in another bed, staring blankly. I didn't even know if he was truly awake. Our parents were in the middle of the room, talking to Karis and Jenna.
"Kyle's awake," Luis said weakly.
Everyone stopped talking and looked at me.
"My son, how are you feeling? Can you talk?" my mom asked.
"Yes... but why wouldn't I be able to?" I rubbed my eyes and sat up.
"He seems better than Luis," Karis said, glancing sideways at him.
"What were you two doing in that house?" Ruphos asked, stepping closer. His expression was desperate.
"Calm down, Ruphos. I know you're worried and want to know why they went there, but let's take it easy," my dad said, gently placing a hand on his shoulder.
"I know, sorry. It's just that Luis doesn't even seem present while Kyle does," Ruphos said, lowering his head and looking at his son.
At that moment, all the memories returned. Tears ran down my face again, but it didn't even feel like I was crying.
"Sorry for going to that place. We just wanted to see if Marco had shown up since we had that candy deal with him," I said, lowering my head and trembling.
I stopped for a moment—just saying "Marco" made me remember what he looked like. Instinctively, I leaned forward. I felt like I was going to vomit, but only dry heaved.
I took a deep breath and looked my mom in the eyes.
"Near Marco's house, there were a lot of people. Since we couldn't get close, we tried going around the back. Luis opened a window, and we went in. After hearing you had left, we checked the room to see what happened. We were just very curious and worried about what had happened at Marco's. Then we saw\..."
I stopped—I couldn't go on. I ended up vomiting for real this time. Hours had passed since everything happened, and my stomach was empty, so only water came out, staining the floor.
My mom placed a cloth over it and began cleaning. There wasn't much to clean, so she quickly stopped.
"If that's everything, then at least we know the full story now," Karis said, crossing her arms. "We need to handle the rest. Afterward, we'll help however we can with the boys."
"Right. It's better to act quickly before things get worse," my dad said. He turned to Jenna. "With your knowledge, maybe you can help Luis rest, can't you, Jenna?"
Jenna walked toward Luis and spoke some strange words. A bright reddish light glowed from her fingers as she touched Luis's forehead. He slowly closed his eyes, let out a brief sigh, and went silent. His body relaxed as Jenna gently laid him down.
"Now he can rest without risking nightmares. I altered his energy flow, blocking the tension and recent memories. I don't know if he'll be fine when he wakes up, like Kyle seems now, but at least he'll be well-rested," Jenna said, taking a small, shallow jar from the bag slung over her shoulder. She handed it to Ruphos. "Take this. If he gets anxious or paralyzed again when he wakes up, crush these herbs and mix them with water for him to drink. Just two crushed leaves per cup of water—no more than that."
"Thank you, Jenna. From me and my son," Ruphos said, shaking her hand.
"It's nothing," Jenna replied. "Our children are all we have, so we must do everything for them."
She turned to me and looked into my eyes.
"If Kyle ends up like Luis, just give him some of the same mix to calm down. What matters is letting him rest some more first." Jenna looked at Karis, then at everyone in the room. "We must go now. There's a mess to handle, and you need to care for these two. See you soon."
After Jenna and Karis left, my mom took the jar from Ruphos.
"Let me prepare it. I think you two need to be with each other right now," she said. She turned to my dad and whispered, though I heard it clearly. "Dear, I think you should stay here with Kyle. I'll prepare the mixture for the boys."
My dad nodded and sat in a chair next to my bed. Everything felt more confusing than ever. All I wanted was to rest a little longer. I never want to eat candy again. I'll never forget what I saw at Marco's house. Every time someone says 'candy' or I see one, I'll remember this day—the day everything began.