Current mood:	accomplished
Current music:	Big D and the Kid's Table, Find out
Entry tags:	fiction, hackmaster, the torchbearer

The Torchbearer
Another unfinished writing piece. This was going to be a Hackmaster short story.


A Hireling's Tale: The Torchbearer


“You did what?”

“We got you a job,” the boy's father replied.

“A job? Why? How will I work for someone and still around the farm?” the young lad asked in confusion.

“See I told you he'd make a fuss,” his father muttered to his wife, “You explain to him. I'll finish his packing.”

“Mother, I don't understand,” the boy said as his father went back inside. He blinked back tears as he tried to make sense of what had happened. His mother pulled him into a tight embrace.

“Oh Kail, your father has decided its time for you to go and make your way in the world. You're almost fourteen after all,” she said as she stroked his head.

“And our lands just aren't big enough for both you and your brothers. Hector has told us he plans to enter the seminary as a priest of Thor. And Timanous and Melia will be married in the Spring. Meaning we need money for the dower's fees and then soon Tim will have his own family to raise.”

“And so I get nothing but a shove out the door?” Kail wailed.

“Quiet boy,” his father growled as he returned. “We've found you good work. Work that will give you a chance at real wealth. Sure there's risk. But this gives you a better chance than you'll have grubbing on your brother's land.”

“Now dry your face boy and grab your bag,” his father said as he kicked a large bag towards Kail. “We need to go to the village and the Sow so you can meet up with your employers. And I don't want to be away from the farm after dark.”

---

Kail trudged up the path behind his father. He'd though he couldn't be any more depressed, but the Gawds must have laughed at that. Almost as soon as they'd set out storm clouds had blown in and a steady rain had begun to fall. Kail clutched his second-hand cloak tight and adjusted his cheap straw hat. Neither did much to keep the rain from soaking him though. After a miserable hour his father called out.

“Theres the tavern boy. You'll out of the wet soon enough.”

Kail glumly nodded in response and followed his father into the Black Sow. The taproom's fire hit him with a burst of heat as they entered that raised steam from their soaked clothes. As Kail tried to squeeze some of the damp out he looked around. The Sow was crowded tonight, mostly with local farmers. But a group nearest to the fire stood out.

There were three of them clustered around one of the tavern's cheap tables. A burly blonde man in shining chain armor with a sword strapped to his belt. A dark-haired man with a heavy beard and wearing a tabard with Thor's hammer on it. And the last looked to be an elf! A real elf clad in dark robes, with a staff at his side. And this was the group his father approached.