Monster

Stories

Little villagers Terik, Janik, and Marish have been tasked with additional responsibilities after the last incident that happened due to their lack of responsibility.

...

Terik and Janik both stood by the library and uncomfortably shifted, throwing searching looks toward the path leading up into the wheat fields on a small hill, which kept all but the top of the house standing hidden from view. Several oaks and many bushes further obscured the view. The straw roofs of village houses stood briefly painted golden in morning light and bright red poppies merrily opened its petals to another day, swaying along the brown earth village paths.

Some villagers already unhurriedly moved along their daily affairs and others just came out of their houses, still sleepily yawning and rubbing their eyes, but smiling as they greeted their neighbors and friends.

Just as the two villager children waited, one taller and thin and the other short and pudgy, another group of children walked by them, with several of the youngest running around them as they snooped from house to house to receive a friendly word, a nod, or even a small treat.

Librarian Fir appeared from his house as well, but did not seem in a hurry to get to his place of work as before, either. Carrying his new toddler in his hands, he first approached several other villagers, who stood watching over their babies as they crawled around the grassy patches next to their houses. After a moment of conversation, the formerly stern librarian suddenly smiled and put his child down with the others, watching the little fellow with a pleased look. Seeing this, Terik turned back to watching the hill.

"I don't see them. Maybe they are not coming?" Janik murmured timidly, his voice and face very unsure. Terik sighed a little, discouraged.

It's been nearly two weeks since the incident at the river, when the little Human nearly drowned. Fortunately for him, his magic first revealed itself in full force and saved him. That's what the elders of the village have determined after they carried out an investigation of what had happened. And they then told the whole village about that.

The little Human was lucky to have a magic like that. That's why he probably lived as a baby even though he had been left entirely alone. That, and some of the monsters didn't seem to hate him, as they did other Humans. His magic seemed to have a taming, calming effect on them. That's what his caretakers finally revealed to the elders. At least, that's what they claimed to have noticed so far, since what they said couldn't exactly be tested.

Elder Jahn wanted to do so, at least to learn if Hero really had healing magic, since none of the villagers wanted to go looking for monsters and how would they bring them to the village to see how they would react to the little Human? What if his relatives were wrong? They could check if he could heal faster than a normal Human, though, elder Jahn insisted. The other elders reproached him for even suggesting the idea, so he withdrew it.

Overall, everyone felt great relief that the little Human's magic turned out so mild. Maybe it was because of him that the monsters now stayed away from the village? Some of the villagers even came with wishing to get well gifts to his caretakers, even though almost none of them came to visit after the new-house invitation feast that they all attended when Beor finished building it and moved more than a year ago.

The little Human was doing well, even though the magic seemed to have made him so weak that for a while, he and his brothers stopped coming to the village meetings once more. Only yesterday, Janik heard his atta talking with little Jean's atta, and they said that today, Margol, Tnul, and the Human would start coming to the village again.

And that meant that it was time for Terik and Janik, as the oldest of the group when the entire terrible event took place, to start fulfilling their punishment terms. Only it wasn't just them. Where was?...