ASKELADDEN: The Tale Of The Golden Quill

“Always remember, Orion. You are the son of a god", his mother said softly, pressing a warm damp cloth to his swollen eye.

"Well, that didn't mean anything when I was having myself served punches, did it, Mother?” Orion said painfully as he flinched. It still hurt badly, and the skin around his eye felt tight and hot, feeling as if every single touch made it a whole lot worse.

“Hold still, boy. I'll be finished soon", she said, quieter now.

“You don't understand, Ma. They ambushed me earlier, by the Lute River. Five of ‘em, Ma. Five!!!!" Orion yelled, in painful annoyance. He was getting fed up with this life.

“And these are boys I've known my whole life. Angus and Erik led the gang as usual, accompanied by those bumpkins: Cassian, Pontus, and Vidar. It was humiliating.

“I was on my way back from Nemeton, the forest just past the river, after I had finished gathering the paeonia, yarrow and burdocks you requested. I even found some walnuts and olives around and collected those too. At the river, I decided to stop for a drink, so I set my basket down and crouched at the riverbank. All of a sudden, I heard a familiar unpleasant voice from behind.”

***

"Look who it is, guys”, Angus sneered, with a mischievous grin slapped across his face.

"If it isn't the worthless so-called demigod”, Erik said mockingly as they walked towards him.

"Demigod, my foot", Angus scoffed, cackling in jest.

“Anyways, what brings you around here, Non-magic?"

“Uhmmm…I wa…I was just leaving", the frightened Orion muttered, as he quickly grabbed his basket and made to flee the scene.

“Hehe, not so fast, boy", Pontus said as he blocked Orion's path, sealing off his chances of escape.

“Hey, don't be scared, lad. We just wanna have a chat", Erik said in a low and frightening tone, whilst he cracked his knuckles as they encroached on the shivering Orion.

“Guys-ss…please, it…it doesn't hav…have to go this way. I'm on an errand right now”, Orion stammered in absolute terror. He knew what was going to befall him, his skin pale with fright and his forehead dripping with sweat.

"Ooooh, he said he's on an errand, huh?” Angus questioned sarcastically, raising an eyebrow in annoyance.

“Is this the errand, Non-magic?" Cassian asked rhetorically as he snatched the basket of herbs from Orion's wimpy grip.

“Please, no…not my herbs. Mother needs those”, Orion pleaded, in a futile effort to save his items.

“Your mother? Is he talking about Cursed Phoebe?" Angus blurted, cackling vigorously along with Cassian and Pontus.

"And why should we care about that old cursed hag?” Erik questioned, with obvious irritation.

“Give me that!" he said as he grabbed the basket from Cassian and smashed it on the ground.

“Ha! These paupers are living off leaves, nuts, and olives. Pathetic”, Angus mocked, as he spat on the items and stomped all over them. Cassian and Pontus joined in, all cackling viciously.

“Now the Non-magic’s spirit is broken, time to break a couple of bones of his", Erik sneered as he approached Orion, with glaring contempt in his eyes.

As Orion stood there quivering, he shut his eyes and swallowed, praying that someone might somehow miraculously come to his rescue…until the first punch landed.

"Check out how weak and flimsy he is, guys. One punch sent him rolling in the grass”, Angus boasted, after striking the first blow on Orion.

…then a second. From Erik.

…and a third hit. A kick from Cassian this time.

At this point, Orion stopped counting after the third blow. The hits just kept coming as he curled up on the ground, using his arms to shield his head.

The assault went on until Vidar stopped them, though not out of pity.

"I think it's okay, guys. We should head home”, Vidar interrupted them, giving Orion a piercing gaze of disgust.

“We shouldn't waste any more time on the low-life. Besides, someone may head this way any minute now."

Vidar was the most stuck-up and conceited of the bunch. He found Orion's presence appalling and irritating, so he never wanted to be involved in anything his brothers did with Orion. He only tags along because they're the only clique he can hang out with.

“Yeah, Vidar’s right. Let's go, guys", Angus said, with a hint of satisfaction in his voice.

“I guess we'll pick this up next time we meet, laggard. Ha!"

***

"And that's how I was fortunately saved by that pompous pig, Vidar. If not, I would've seriously had broken bones today”, Orion recounted what transpired, as he winced at the sharp pain in his side.

"It'll all be alright eventually, my boy. All this would come to an end and you'll live a glorious life. I swear it”, his mother comforted him in a soft tone, almost sounding like a whisper.

“How sure of that are you, Ma? It never gets better. Everyday is always an upgraded nightmare”, Orion grumbled with deep dejection.

"It's called faith, my boy. And I happen to have a lot of it. You should learn to hope for a brighter future. It helps.

***

The bright scorching midday sun drained every ounce of energy from Orion, as he made his way around the marketplace in a bid to quickly gather the items his mother needed and also avoid attracting attention as well as steering clear of Angus and the boys.

“Crap. I should've checked the cloaks before grabbing this", he muttered to himself, disappointedly.

His unnecessary hurry out to the market had allowed him to make a costly mistake and deprived him of the double protection perk. He accidentally took his regular cloak instead of the hooded cloak which he usually used when going into populated environments.

This cloak usually protected him from unfavorable weather conditions (rainfall and sunshine) and also helped shield him from attention. It was the perfect disguise, and he fumbled it on a crucial day.

In the midst of wallowing in his self-disappointment and deciding which piece of bark-loaf to pick, the sharp unpleasant voice of Angus broke his thoughts.

“Yo, laggard. Fancy seeing you around so soon", Angus yelled from the other side of the street.

Orion wasted no second taking to his heels as soon as he turned his head and spotted the nefarious duo, Angus and Erik. He bolted from the bakery and disappeared into the crowd, leaving the bullies to figure out his whereabouts.

"There he is!” Erik yelled as he spotted Orion ducking into an alleyway.

"Angus, go ahead into the next alley and cut off his escape route."

Erik chased him into the alleyway and just as Orion was about to take a sharp turn to the right, he halted abruptly and fell on his ass. His eyes widened with terror as Angus stood before him, blocking off his only hope of getting away from the bullies.

"What happened to the little bunny who thought he could outsmart the wolves? The little bunny got caught”, Angus sneered, as he walked slowly towards Orion, like a ravenous wolf walking down his cornered prey.

"There's no Vidar to stop us halfway today, Non-magic. We're gonna have so much fun snapping a couple of those puny bones of yours", Erik snarled, with a malicious look in his eyes.

Orion braced himself for the incoming assault, but just before the first hit could land, a voice interrupted.

"Vomva omichlis!!”

Before they could figure out who spoke and what was said, a thick cloud of fog filled the alleyway, stunning the bullies and confusing their sense of direction.

The mist cleared in less than a minute, but Orion was nowhere to be found, and neither was the mysterious speaker.

"Damn it! That bastard got away!!" Erik cursed under his breath and kicked a nearby barrel in anger.

***

A hand pulled Orion and whispered to him “Keep running". He needed no second thought about following this stranger, because at that point, whoever it was was already his saviour.

As his vision cleared and he realised they were out of the fog, he noticed the blond-haired that was holding onto his arm. He was puzzled, asking himself who this strange boy could be.

The blond stranger gently let go of Orion’s hand and slowed down, eventually coming to a halt.

"I think we're in the clear now”, the blond lad said, panting.

Both boys bent over, hands on their knees, trying to catch their breath. They ran quite a distance, unknown to them.

Orion, after finally stabilizing himself, asked the strange lad, “By the way, who are you?"

“Oh, pardon me. I'm Aidan Rhys. And you are?” The blond lad replied, with his blue eyes gleaming with soft kindness and his outstretched arm offering a handshake.

“RHYSSSS?!! As in one of the three Noble Families of Dumnonia Rhys?!!!” the wide-eyed Orion exclaimed and stared in bewilderment, unable to believe that a Rhys just saved him from the nefarious duo.