Prologue

It was a one rainy Wednesday evening. The city of Verg was drenched in wet puddles. The skies were gray and the rain was stubborn, fortunately, it wasn't a thunderstorm. 13-year old Zach rushed back home stepping on every puddle along the way. His pants were dripping with rainwater and his head was soaked. His auburn hair was all over his face. He enjoyed every second in the rain, but coming home as a wet puppy would raise concern with his uncle, Wiles.  He laughed as he gasped for breath; it was a long time since it had rained. Verg was a dry city, with only occasional monsoons.

Zach tried his best to bring up excuses for coming home late. He’d been with his mates, stayed up a bit just waiting for the skies to darken at school. It’d be an easy job, if you were an only child. You could say you had ‘work’ to do or perhaps, you got detention for something your friend did or just blame everyone else. Zach had a little brother. He was not his Biological brother, he was Wiles’ son. His name was Mewz Wiles and you could expect anything of a little brother from him. The little brat would give him off for good. Oh, who cares, he thought happily as curved down a lane.

Zach’s story was complicated. His parents left to find work in the cities far away. They'd asked Wiles Dominon, Mrs. Zach’s brother to look after Zach. Not so bad, you'd think. But only, Zach never saw his parents for eleven years straight. Zach had no regrets. He barely recognized his parents and wouldn't be surprised they turned up one day and claimed to be Mr. and Mrs. Zach.

After roughly a few lanes of running, the boy stopped and gaped at the furious skies, catching a breath. The winds were blowing him back and each droplet of rain seemed like a stone to the eyes. Furiously shaking his head, Zach regained his mobility and finally made it to their residence.

Zach’s home wasn’t big, in fact, no houses in the town of Verg was big. It was a small commercial trading town which buys and sells good from one royal city to another. The biggest building in the town would be that of the town market. Every house or building was no more than a storey or two high. They were typical cottage-like homes. Zach’s was a single storey cottage with a wooden-hay sloping roof.

As he closed in to his place, he noticed the lights were dimmer and the chimney lazily puffing out put-off smoke. A power outage. He picked up speed and dashed into the cottage’s pathway. He reached for the door-knob and without a knock, pulled it open and streaked inside yelling, “Uncle Wiiiiillleess, I’m home!” He tried to flash up, to his room, trying to run at lightning speed but a strong force pulled him back from reaching the stairs.

Uncle Wiles, a strong, big and a bit of stout man with dirty blonde hair and a spiky moustache, pulled out his pipe from his mouth held Zach by his drenched backpack.

“Young man. Where, just where do you think you were, all this time?” he demanded. Zach stopped flailing and forced a meek smile with water trickling down his face. “School,” he said in a tiny voice. Uncle Wiles pulled his backpack back, dragging Zach with it. “Oh, I suppose so. Schoolwork bringing you late? I remember no Zachariah being so sincere in his schoolwork of all things.” Zach whined and sat lazily on a wooden stool. Uncle Wiles sighed with concern said, “Look here, son, I know rain delights you. But don’t come home a wet puppy. It scares your old man.”

“Aww, but I…I’m okay! I’m totally fine! Not a broken bone or a col�"Achoo!” Zach sneezed mid-way and regretted having said what he had. Uncle Wiles shook his head hopelessly. “Whatever am I going to do with this boy?” he muttered under his breath.

He next few moments were filled with awkward silence, occasionally after a few sneezes. Uncle Wiles stared at Zach in the eyes, expecting something more than a sorry. But after a few minutes he stood up and grabbed a dry towel hanging on a clothesline in one side of the room and gently wrapped it around Zach. He laughed lightly and went over to a small wooden end-table near the chimney. “Son, next time, don’t ever tell your plans to Mewz. He’s a clever�"no, cunning kid.” He took up a porcelain kettle and poured some hot tea in a small white cup. “Got it out before the rain,” Uncle Wiles said. The tea was warm and was good for a soaked person. He handed over the little cup to Zach. He held down to his lap and stared at the brown liquid, his mind filled with strange feelings. Feelings of guilt, happiness, sadness and gratefulness. He was not sure whether to say ‘Thanks’ or ‘Sorry’.

Uncle Wiles pulled another wooden stool close by and started peeling a potato. He hummed a small pirate tune as his fingers controlled the knife over the vegetable’s skin. Zach observed keenly, watching every move. “Kid’s up there, screaming tis’ the end of the world.” Uncle Wiles said in a soft voice. Zach giggled quietly at his brother’s innocence.

Uncle Wiles and Mewz had been like a family to him. Aunt Lia died shortly after Mewz’s birth. So Zach knew his responsibilities of being a good big brother to Mewz.

Uncle Wiles was an in-town trader. His part was to receive goods from the Royal City of Kamos in the East and then pass those goods to the town gate, from where, they were then sent to the Royal City of Cerhanthon in the West. He earned enough to feed three mouths and keep things going.

Apart from his job, Uncle Wiles managed things at home. He cooked for himself and his two children, helped the two with homework, managed household chores and even told bed time stories.

When Zach was old enough, he helped Uncle Wiles with a few errands like bringing chopped wood, shopping for stuff in the market, cleaning his room, helping Mewz with his homework. Sometimes, Zach scouted around the woods for berries and honey, tried to cook and even told bed time stories for the other two.

Zach tried his best to care for Mewz and guide the kid as much as he could but as far as it seemed, Mewz never bothered asking about Aunt Lia or whatever happened to Zach’s parents. He was a typical carefree kid. He had very few features of Uncle Wiles. He was 11 years old, had dark chestnut hair and amber eyes and a very ‘pleasant’ face like Aunt Lia. He was reckless and sometimes very snobby and a major prankster, but Zach couldn’t help but love him.

Uncle Wiles broke Zach’s line of thought with a quiet ruffle of his feet. He took a small sip of his tea and started, “Y’know son… I think it’s better to tell you. Now or it’s never.” The boy looked up, clueless. Is Uncle Wiles going with Mewz’s logic too?

The big man laughed loudly. But deep inside, he held the worst for his nephew, for whom, he cared as one of his own sons. For Wiles, Zach had given hope, which once he’d lost. With the loss of his beloved wife. Somehow looking into Zach’s growing yet innocent eyes was painful. How am I going to break it to the kid, Wiles thought inside as he let out another roar of laughter. He noticed the boy staring at him like he was nuts. He calmed down and shook his head. Sooner or later, he said to himself, he’ll have to know.

“What’s so funny? Achoo! Uncle Wiles?” Zach asked, sniffing with his runny nose. Wiles’ smile turned down. He put down his empty cup near the kettle. His emotions were changing fast. Kyla…Lark…what should I do, he asked himself. His comic face soon turned into a grim expression. Zach noticed his sudden stir. Now he was just all the more curious. Is he really c**k-a-doodle-doo?

Before Zach could react, a hurricane came rushing down the stairs, hitting every stair in the way, and finally crashed in to the floor. Mewz had made his dramatic entrance.

The boy was short and still had his bag to his side, filled with, whatever seemed to be umbrellas, tents, sleeping bags and a bag of fries.

“What’s that?” Zach asked. Mewz lifted his head from the floor and replied, “Emergency supplies.”

Zach sighed exasperatedly and Uncle Wiles had started laughing again. Mewz turn red and pulled himself up to sit. “Don’t laugh at me, Dad. One day, you’ll thank me!” he said arrogantly.

Somehow, time always passed. With Mewz and Uncle Wiles, Zach had everything in his world. Oh, not to forget his pals. Even, Will, Alice, Lynne and also the kids down the street, Ashe and Ashley. Sometimes, Zach thought it was too perfect. And sometimes, too wrong.

What did Uncle Wiles want to say? He wondered as Mewz charged head-first into his father. Seeing them happy was enough for Zach. After all, nothing could go wrong now.

 

 

Author's Note

This was copied right from my ms word, sorry is hasn't been separated into paragraphs~!