Chapter 1: Life in a Magical Village
What a beautiful summer day today. Ivor and I are thirteen years old. My whole life is ahead of me. My small village “Likhovia”, is located in the middle of nowhere. And I really like it. Although taxes have been raised, but you can still live. After all, there is a forest nearby and there are a lot of animals in it. Although there are enough magical beasts. The village chief meets once a month in the city and announces the extermination of them to the Adventurers ' guild. They come, so beautiful in armor and armor. Sometimes mages with staffs. So strong, they kill all animals with magic. Even rain is called when it is necessary. I don’t have time to do that. There is very little magic. They test kids for talent. They buy out the most talented students. So my two friends Irinka and Mark were taken away. My dad Eliot is a half-elf like my mom Irina koshkolyudka died a year ago from the clutches of the count’s pet griffin, and he started drinking. It’s hard for him to be alone with me. But he doesn’t want another woman, and who’s going to go after a drunkard now? Well, at least I have a talent for hunting and gathering. We live on them. I also help in the field. We have bull Sense. Nice, affectionate, carries heavy loads. It would have been very bad without him. While I sit near the house and cook onions, local bullies came.
– Look, the drunk’s son is going to the forest. Let the animals kill him in the forest, and we’ll eat his bull. They say the wizard raccoon is raging again. That’s the monster. Elf ears and cat ears. Four-eared. – Said the dirty-looking fourteen-year-old Temyan, nicknamed “Big Root”, the son of the village headman Oleg. “Throw it at the ragamuffin. He likes it anyway. – And as always, five kids, three boys and two girls about the same age, started throwing dirt and rocks at me. I’ve tried to fight them before. But I always lost. They won by numbers. So I started ignoring them. Five minutes passed. I was covered in mud and abrasions and the leader said. “Stop wasting your time on this scum and let’s move on. “And they left. And the ears help me in hunting with them you can hear better. And Thyme didn’t like me, because I’m pretty and girls like me. And I will live much longer than he is a human. I stuck out my tongue.
I dusted it off, of course. Healed with recovery magic. He walked briskly into the woods. My father is sleeping in the hayloft after last night’s drinking. As soon as he wakes up, he doesn’t start eating. And if I don’t find something for him, I’ll be worse off. The butt from his belt still hadn’t healed from the last time. In order to cure him of his drunkenness, I went to the local witch Terimuska. But all to no avail. Herbs and medicines don’t help. He’s a good man when he’s sober. He teaches me how to cultivate the land. He taught me how to shoot with a bow. He’s very good at recovery magic. But as soon as he drinks it, it’s like a demon takes over. He wants to fight. To the neighbor lonely Elena sticks. She’s already got a lot of problems. My husband and son were eaten by a magical lion six months ago. She doesn’t care about us. She has debts. She is kind. He gives me milk and tea, feeds me homemade cookies. I sometimes give her the skins in return. She makes toys out of them, sells them in the bazaar in the city of Kau. That’s how it survives. If my father hadn’t been drinking, I would have been my second mother. But where there.
Many people greeted me on the way. They wished me luck. We have a peaceful village. Poor people are our problem. Taxes were raised. I walked for a long time, about an hour, until I got deep into the forest. It’s dark out there. Just another day. I checked the snares and traps. So little things like squirrels and martens. We need to find some big game. Tax day is coming up. I’ll give you the skin of a large animal, they’ll leave us a month behind. I listened, and it was quiet. What is. Where there are birds or animals. He hid behind a tree stump and waited. In the distance I hear the trees bend. A big one is coming, even too big. I took a closer look. A large magic raccoon five meters long. Well, if he sees everything, he’ll eat it right away. He began to bury himself in mud. Maybe it will help. Buried all the good earth is loose after the rain. Left only the mouth and eyes of the rest in the ground. He held his breath. But the beast, sniffing, comes towards me. It’s scary, but you can’t be afraid. “Magical beasts can smell your fear,” is what my father always says when he’s sober. He used to be a great hunter. Here in the village I am respected, almost by everyone.
The face of a terrible beast prowls the ground. The creature sniffs. He moves his nose. Saliva and blood flow from the bloody mouth. Who did you eat, creature? Here it is above me. Well, that’s it. Goodbye my friends, goodbye father, goodbye Elena. Maybe it will be better without me. I’m just a peasant in the middle of nowhere. This is how my life will end.
