Chapter of the Book I'm Writing.

A Story by Kody Reavis

This is a randomly selected chapter out of my book! I want to get feedback from this to help me out! Do know it has not been edited yet or proofread. Enjoy!

“A Hunting Accident”

I stepped closer to the man with my dagger still in my right hand. He went for the first move and threw himself at me fast. He swung his wooden club straight for my temple. I ducked down and swung my dagger at his waist. I barely missed and it made me fall back. I brought myself back to my feet quickly and I went for it. I swung my dagger back and forth as fast as I could at his face. I missed once, twice, and then the third swing slashed his cheek. He flinched, but he didn’t even make a shriek of pain. His cheek was bleeding down his face. He then ran at me with fury. His club raised high in his right hand. He swung down hard at me. I dodged left, but it struck me hard on my right shoulder. The pain was intense. It brought me to the ground hard. He didn’t stop there, he kept coming at me. He slammed the club down at me constantly. He missed and missed until I kicked his shin which brought him to his knees. It made him make a small groan. I kept kicking him in the chest and legs. I tried to get up, but I was having trouble because my shoulder was out of place. Then I turned towards the man and he was standing over me with his club held high. He was just about to strike me with it, but he then shrieked and flew on his back. I rubbed my eyes and I sat up to look at the man. He had an arrow stuck in his throat. It was a bloody mess, it was all over his face and it was still flowing out of his neck. I looked around and saw Avilon holding her bow out. She had a horrified look on her face. She came over to me and helped me up. “You could have died Clifton!” she cried. “But I didn’t because you saved me. You got him and he won’t hurt us anymore.” I said trying to calm her. “I have never killed anyone before.” She whispered. “I haven’t either, but this was self-defense and you had no choice.” She looked at me with tears in her eyes and she just wrapped her arms around me and started crying. It hurt a little since my shoulder was so busted up, but I didn’t say anything. I realized I didn’t have my dagger. I waited for her to release and I walked over to the dead man, and I picked it up and sheathed it in my belt. “We better get back, it is getting dark.” I said. I grasped my shoulder and we started heading back to the village. It was hard to cross back through the river. We made it back to the valley we were at before we entered the woods.

We didn’t talk much until we reached the village. “I hope your arm gets better, I’ll see you tomorrow Clifton.” She said as she turned and walked home. I walked throughout the village and I received some strange looks. I must have looked messed up to them. I tried not to make eye contact with them. I reached the blacksmith which is home and I unlatched the door and walked in. My father was sitting at a table reading a book. He turned to look at me and his face was actually kind of funny. He looked really concerned. “Clifton what the hell happened?” he asked. Avilon and I were attacked out in the woods.” I said. “Were you attacked by an animal?” “No, we were wandering through the woods and then we came upon a tent and a man came out and attacked us.” “Is Avilon ok?” he asked. “Yah she is fine, she saved my life. The man would have killed me if she hadn’t been there. He did bust up my shoulder pretty bad though.” I showed him my shoulder and he made a disgusted face. “Where is that man right now then?” he asked. “He is dead. Avilon killed him with her bow.” My father rubbed his face and he stood up. “Where are you going?” I asked. I am going to Mother Shallot; I have to speak with her about what happened.” That said, he headed out the door and headed towards the church. “Hey I think she is at home not at the church.” I told him. He told me to go to Avilon’s house and wait there in case she wasn’t at the church. I guess he didn’t feel like listening to me much, but I agreed and I did what he told me.

I arrived at Avilon’s house and I knocked on the door. “Who is it?” She whispered from behind the door. “It’s me Clifton open up.” She unlatched the door and she reached out and grabbed my arm and pulled me in. “Oops, did I grab your bad arm?” she asked. I shook my head and told her no. Thank god she didn’t because that would have been quite painful. She then sat down on a small broken bench and I sat next to her. “So what are you doing here?” she asked. “Well my father told me to come and wait here in case your mother wasn’t at the church.” “Why?” “I guess my father wants to talk to your mother about what happened to us in the woods.” I replied. “Oh, well I hope your arm gets better, you should probably go see the apothecary doctor.” She said. “What if he asks about it?” I asked. “Of course he is going to ask about it, he needs to know how to help you.” She replied with a laugh. “Well I think he can help me without knowing, I’ll just tell him it was a hunting accident.” I said as I pulled up my sleeve to look at my arm. It was all bruised up and it was easy to see that it was out of place or broken. “I’ll be right back.” She said as she got up and headed over to the kitchen. I looked around and I admired how fancy it looked in here. I haven’t been in here for a while. There were candles on high shelves, pretty rugs on the floor and benches for guests like me to sit. The one I was sitting on happened to be broken though. There was a window next to the door and I liked to observe people passing by and I liked to judge them instantly. As they walk by I used to look at their clothing and judge them whether or not they are wealthy. I see old women walk by all the time. They actually kind of freak me out. What if they were in some kind of evil cult and they eat children for recreation and sacrifices. Every time one of them walks by, I hope to god that they don’t look at me. It gives me the chills just thinking about it.

A few minutes later, Avilon came walking back into the room holding a tray with what looked like tea. “Here have this, we didn’t drink anything when we were in the woods and you could get sick if you don’t drink something.” She handed me the cup of tea and I slurped it down instantly. I didn’t realize how thirsty I was until she handed me the cup. Before I could set the cup back on the tray, the front door opened and mother Shallot and my father stepped inside. They looked at us and sat down next to us. Mother Shallot looked at us sternly and spoke first. “Now I want you to tell us the whole story of what happened in the woods.”

We told them the whole story together and they looked very concerned about it. I was just worried that they might tell us that we shouldn’t go hunting anymore, but that would make our lives boring. Also, we need the food without having to pay all the time because my father doesn’t get paid as much as he should. My father looked at me and it seemed as if he was thinking hard. “I think it might be best that you don’t cross that river and you should stay closer to the village. I don’t like when you both travel very far because it can get extremely dangerous.” He said. I looked at Avilon and we both nodded in agreement. “Now I think that it is best that you go see a doctor.” He said as he headed for the door. “I will wait for you at home; I should have dinner cooked by the time you get home. It is getting late so please try to hurry; I don’t like you being out so late.” I sat up and decided to go now. My father said goodbye to Mother Shallot and Avilon and he headed home. “I better get this doctor thing over with.” I said as I headed out the door. I closed the door softly behind me and I looked up at the sky. It was pretty dark, but I had some good visibility left because the sun was still shining over the horizon. It was very cloudy and humid. This weather was always my favorite and my idea of perfect weather. I was born during this type of weather and it relaxes me. I could smell the wet humidity in the air. I opened my eyes and started walking down the village. Not a lot of people are outside now. I started to jog as much as I could so that I could make it in time before the doctor goes in for the night. I turn a couple corners and I finally saw the doctor’s stand. He was still standing there, but it looked like he was packing up his stuff for the night. I finally reached his post and I patted him on the shoulder. “I…..I was wondering if you could take a look at my shoulder, I hurt it when I was out hunting this morning.” I told him. He looked at me and smiled. “Well my boy, you look worn out. I can definitely see that you damaged your arm a little. But don’t you worry; there is nothing that I cannot fix. Although, you are a little late, I mean I was just packing up to go home.” “Yeah, I’m sorry about that, I had to tell my father about my injury so it took a while.” “Hmm, I suppose that was a good thing to do so I will treat you any way.” I thanked him and he put his hand on my back and led me down the path towards his home.

When we reached his house, I noticed that it was actually pretty big for a doctor’s home. “You look surprised my dear boy.” He said with a smile. ‘Well yeah, you must get a good payment for your work to actually afford this house. “Indeed I do boy.” He unlatched his front door and we stepped into the first room. A blast of delicious smells rushed through me. “Wow it smells great in here.” I said while sniffing harder. “Yes, that would be my lovely wife Floretta making supper. You are welcome to stay for a bite if you wish.” He offered. “I would love to, but my father told me to get home as soon as possible.” “Very wise your father is, very wise indeed.” He said. I know he is a doctor, but it makes me giggle every time he says the word “Indeed”. “Oh hello, I didn’t know we were going to have company.” Floretta mentioned as she joyfully stepped into the room. “Yes, well this is just a boy who needs his arm fixed.” The doctor said. “Oh, well what a cute young man he is.” She said as she walked back into the kitchen. She didn’t look too old, but you could tell she was older than 40. She had short dark curly hair with sapphire blue ear rings. She was wearing a reddish apron and a yellow blouse. She had small pointy shoes which made me think of a creepy witch. This woman was very nice though and I admired her enthusiasm about everything. “Well my boy, let’s get your arm fixed up so you can get on home.” I nodded and he signaled for me to sit on one of their soft couches. It was the most comfortable sofa I have ever sat on. He then came up to me and told me to take off my light armor I still had on. I got most of it off and then pulled up my sleeve. He messed around with my arm a little and applied some pressure in a few spots to see where it was the most painful. “Ok, I am going to have to shift your shoulder back into place and it will be painful. I will do it on three. One…two… SNAP! He snapped it back into place and it was excruciatingly painful. I made a noise as if I have been punched in the gut. I tried to hold in my screams so I wouldn’t make too much noise. “Now what was that horrible noise?” Floretta asked as she came into the room with a weird look on her face. “Oh don’t worry about that, I was just helping to put his arm back in place. It is very painful sometimes. Well my boy, you may want to rest your arm before doing anything too physical with it for a couple days.” He told me. I agreed and thanked him greatly. I reached into my small coin pack to signal that I am wondering about the cost of my treatment. He glanced at me and realized what I was doing. I kept digging in my breaches and realized that I didn’t have any money with me. “Oh, that is not big problem lad, how about you just do some jobs for me to pay for your arm instead?” he asked. “Yeah, that sounds good, when should I be here then?” I asked. “Well, would tomorrow morning work?” I nodded and told him that I would be there and then I walked to the door. I thanked him again for helping me and I stepped outside and shut the door. It was extremely windy now, but it was still humid. I was so dark and there were no torches lit out here. The silence was freaking me out. I wonder if my father still has dinner made or maybe he went to bed. I tried to remember how to get home and I just walked for a good amount of time. I saw some torches in the distance and I could tell where the blacksmith shop is. I reached the door and I walked in. I looked on the table in the kitchen and saw some chicken my father must have left for me. I kept as quiet as much as I could so not to wake my father. I ate that chicken super-fast, because I haven’t eaten since this morning. When I finished, I went over to my father’s room and looked in. He was lying in his cot sleeping. I just turned around and went into my room straight across from him. My room isn’t big, but it isn’t very small either. It has a cot in the corner and a window across from it. I always stare outside until I fall asleep every night. I also have a small counter where I can read and write whenever I want to. I then went to lie down on the cot. Instead of staring out the window I just shut my eyes. I couldn’t fall asleep for a while because I was in deep thought about many things, but then something my father told me a while back came into my head. My father always told me to play it safe. He always knew what to do and what not to do in any situation. He was a lone wolf, a survivor for years on his own in his past life. His parents (My grandparents) were taken away when he was nine years old. He told me that his parents were being taken away for a tax payment that they could not afford when the past ruler was in the throne. My father had to run away or else the men at arms would take him too. He told me that there was a small latched door in the back of the house that had a small basement that he hid in for weeks with little food and water. It must have been hard for him, but we are far from that place and he has nothing to worry about. Though I have noticed that this kingdom and the one my father grew up in have been in some conflict. War might even be an option that will occur soon. This could be dangerous for everybody, but for my father especially. Men could be looking for him after all these years but it is a grudge that I wouldn’t personally hold this long. My eyes then started to get heavier and heavier and I drifted off. (END OF CHAPTER)