When the night was dark, in a thick forest, two young men were surrounded by people from all directions. In the moonlight, their features were clear. The two of them stood back to back while the people stood on guard. The taller one glanced at the people on his side and silently counted them.
21, 22, 23... a total of 23 men on his side. They all had their swords drawn, ready to attack at the signal. The shorter young man was shaking from fear.
He whispered to his companion, "I told you, this wasn't a good idea. Do you think we can survive this?"
---
... 6 years ago...
Two swords clashed with a loud noise. The sound of metal colliding came again. It was a spar going on between two teenagers. One was badly exhausted while the other didn't break a sweat. The weaker one fell to the ground and surrendered.
"I lose!" he bolted. "You win again. You know I can't win against you."
The latter laughed and sat beside him on the grassy ground. He looked at the clear sky with a warm smile. "I know. But hey..." they looked at each other. "You are always inside your room, reading whatever."
The former rolled his eyes at his comment. "So, you always drag me out to fight with you because of that?"
The latter blinked and modestly nodded his head. The former shook his head in disbelief.
"You're unbelievable, Alec."
The young man named Alec chuckled and lay on the grass. On a beautiful, sunny day like this, they would enjoy bathing in the sun. Just then, a figure came from a distance. Her shrill voice echoed in their ears.
"There you are. It's good you didn't go into the forest." The woman had a basket with her.
Her features were mature but still lovely. She walked towards them and sat under the shade of a tree, a few steps away from the boys.
She beamed. "You're getting stronger by the day, Alec. It's almost noon. I brought you some lunch."
The two boys got up and sat by her side.
"Thanks, Aunt Collen. I was bored swinging the sword by myself," he picked a loaf of bread. The soft bread was torn with little force. "So, I asked Will to accompany me."
The boy called Will, or William, lay down again. "Mom, don't believe him. He practically dragged me out."
Collen, listening to both boys, let out a giggle. "Well, all you do the whole day is bury your nose in those books. You should be grateful that you can be out like this, in this nice weather."
Alec swallowed the bread in hand. "You're right, Aunt Collen. He is too weak to even hold on for five minutes." Alec shrugged as he shook his head. Meanwhile, William gave him a glare of warning.
"It's not my fault I'm weak. It's just my body tires so soon." As if to prove it, he lifted his arms in the air and dropped them down.
Collen listened to them and exclaimed, "You guys are so powerful, while I'm so weak. Oh, why don't you both help me clean the storage room after this?" She clapped her hands together.
William's face turned annoyed while Alec avoided her eyes. Both didn't want to do it. But they didn't want to anger her either. So they nodded reluctantly.
"Perfect!" Collen exclaimed and stood up, patting her clothes. "I'll see you guys at dinner. Now, I have to go help Mrs. Ledger with her garden." Soon, she went out of their sight. They watched her leave and, when she could no longer be seen, they let out a sigh of relief.
"The storage room is full of garbage. Why do we have to clean it?" She had just left and William started to complain. Alec got up and stretched his arms.
"Let's just go, Will. We can clean it faster if we start now." William yawned and sat up on the leafy green grass, looking at his small hometown with dazed eyes.
"You're too nice for your own good, Alec." Hearing his name, Alec gazed at him.
"What are you talking about?" He brushed it off as a joke.
"I mean, I never once saw you complaining. You're always full of enthusiasm and helping others."
Alec raised a brow and shook his head.
"That's not true. I'm also human." Alec offered him a hand to stand up. William took his hand and steadied himself. He grinned and walked towards their house.
"Okay. Let's go. Let's clean the storage room like you said. We can clean it faster if we start now."
Alec smiled and followed him. It was only natural to him that he was nice to others. He was an infant when Collen found him. She raised him as her own. She had a son, William, but after that, she loved them both equally. Collen was a nice woman. She was kind and thoughtful of others.
That's why Alec also helped others just as Collen did. He felt it was something he must do.
---
After a few dozen minutes, most of the storage room was cleaned and only a few boxes were left to get rid of. Alec put down a box full of old books and wiped his sweat off his forehead. William placed a tool beside a large closet to pick up the boxes on top.
"I didn't know our storage had so many books." Alec heard William murmuring under his breath.
"Me neither. I mean, the only person who loves to read is you. Who else?" Alec's voice was dripping with sarcasm. He picked up another box near the big closet.
"Yeah, but... my books are in my room." William retorted as he reached out to grab a small box behind the big box. "Almost there," he muttered.
"So, who..." Alec picked up the heavy wooden box and tried to continue his talk but stumbled and bumped into William, who was about to grab the box. But instead, to steady himself, he grabbed the big box. As a result, Alec fell down along with William, and the box full of books fell on their heads with a loud noise.
"Oww..." Both felt the pain where the thick books hit. Alec rubbed his head and squinted his eyes at the pile of books. William was the first to recover. "Ow! Where were you looking? Can't you see?!" He yelled and stood up with the help of a stool.
"Sorry, my balance failed." He got up and hurriedly picked up the fallen books.
"You added to another mess. You're the one to clean this mess!" William crossed his arms.
Alec nodded his head repeatedly. "Yes, yes. I'll clean it right away."
William scoffed and moved to pick up a smaller box. While picking up the books, Alec saw an unusual title.
He picked up the book and stared at it. He flipped the book and felt a deep attraction towards it. Before he opened the book, William's voice was heard.
"What are you doing? Help me move the closet." William's request brought Alec back to reality as he hid the book under a cloth on a nearby table.
"Uh... coming!" He rushed over to help William.