Strixes

Chapter 1 – Leo Raynard

The loud laugh of Leo made a scene in front of the local village store where the people watching were either tired or angry.

“What?” Leo’s sarcastic voice asked as he tried to keep his laughter under control, “It isn’t easy to contain an overgrown laughter.”

“Well, there is nothing to laugh for when you’re only scaring her.” Leo’s younger brother, Thomas, about the age of eight intervened in the matter as a girl noticeably in his age group sat numbly on the ground vividly frightened by whatever trick Leo must have played on her.

“Don’t get scared, it’s not real, goblins don’t exist, alright.”

Thomas sat down on the ground alongside the girl whose breath was loud enough for the audience and passersby to hear

“Tom, why do you spoil all the fun with your boring….” Leo was about to complain but was rudely interrupted with a resounding slap that landed on his left cheek

“How dare you hurt my daughter, you naughty brat.” A chubby woman who vividly explained herself as the mother of the scared girl stood gallantly in front of Leo with a frown that sent shivers down his spine.

“I’m so sorry for his childish behavior. I promise he’ll never make this mistake again.” Leo’s father finally intervened throwing death glares that made him bow his head to the ground in embarrassment.

“We all respect you senior Raynard, but you have to teach this kid some discipline and stop apologizing for his annoying doings.”

“Yes, he should be more of his brother and lesser of himself.”

Some of the individuals amongst the crowd complained to Senior Raynard, the father of two kids and also the chief Elder of the Redia Kingdom being the second after the King, who stared in embarrassment at the people before dragging Leo and his brother out of the store.

+++

“It was just a normal prank, I promise, I didn’t make any beast.” Leo’s once sarcastic voice was now dull and fragile as he tried to plead with his father.

“There is no normal prank Leo. You are the reason why I still can’t cross over your mother’s death by being always rough and stubborn.”

“I’m sorry fath…” A smack on the cheek interrupted his words leaving him to sob uncontrollably.

“Don’t you father me, Leo, you’ll have to deviate from your sarcastic nature before your apology will be accepted, and always remember that your position as the future elder of this village is not stable, especially when your younger brother is well behaved than you are.” Leo’s father explained with a bitter voice. Who could have imagined that the prestigious and disciplined Senior Raynard would birth a monster whose nature was sarcastic and undisciplined?

Leo sat on his bed with a sad face as he wouldn’t dare to make eye contact with his already furious father.

“You know what, from now on forth, you won’t come anywhere with me, neither will you follow me to any occasion whether important or not.”

“You can’t do that. I’m going to be the next elder so I have to experience things about the village. I’m still ten, I’ll definitely change… no, I’m going to change my attitude from now henceforth.” Leo’s words came out flawlessly as a trickle of tears flowed from his bright blue eyes. He turned his gaze back to the wooden floor of his father’s room while expecting the worst reply from his dad.

A deafening silence engulfed the room for almost a minute with senior Raynard staring at his son with a pondering yet serious face.

“Leo, I don’t think you’re ever going to change especially when you’re aware that you are wrong, and I don’t think you’ll ever be the elder when Thomas is also my son. The villagers will go into a riot if I become a stubborn head and perform the ritual on you.”

“So… are you saying I’ll never be the elder.”

The room turned dead silent that even the sound of a creeping ant could be heard. Leo gave a loud scream after some minutes and landed a somewhat painful blow on his father's knee before running out of the room.

“Damn to you.” Leo retorted while he vastly made his way to the swampy forest behind their house.

Within minutes, Leo stood before the wild forest with a bittersweet smile. He looked back at the normal-looking cottage behind him and then to the forest. After all, it was only late morning and he would have preferred spending the night here in the woods, than at home where he might be murdered by his father due to his despicable act.

“Handing out my birthright to that jelly brother of mine. How will he protect the village, let alone the whole kingdom.”

Leo muttered as he made his way aimlessly into the forest. Whether he got lost or not was none of his concern as he only felt betrayed by his father who indeed made it clear that he was never going to rule as an elder.

“Damn this entire kingdom,” He shouted at the tall and grumpy trees around him with tearful eyes.

“You should never blame me for her death, I didn’t kill her after all. I’m still a little kid who is supposed to enjoy his childhood to the fullest….Ah!”

Leo suddenly fell into a shallow lake that fortunately, only covered his waist downwards.

“You all want me to think like an adult… when I’m still a kid.” He arrogantly continued to walk his way through the green water lake that had multiple kelp and seaweeds.

The more Leo walked further into the lake, the deeper it got and the more the pressure on his legs became heftier until he eventually gave up and decided to turn around.

“Now I’m passing through this stuff when you are all preparing to make the ritual for…” While walking slowly through the lake, he paused for a brief second and looked down at the transparent water to view his stiff leg that stood underneath a glowing formation.

“What is this!” Leo asked in awe and at the same time trying to move his legs that remained glued to the ground.

‘Am I in trouble?’

His heart began to pound with fright after seeing the golden light lighten up the more he struggled.

“No... No somebody help!” Leo screamed in fright as the heavy pressure that made him divert from the further part of the lake appeared in the surrounding. When the pressure got too much for him to be comfortable with, he gathered his energy and tried to move out of the illuminating light.

“Ah!”

He fell flat into the lake with a loud thud and the former golden light instantly died out. When Leo noticed that the restraining force had let go of him, he immediately jumped up from the water and began to run his way out of the lake.