The Little Boy

By Kaia
 

Author’s Note and Disclaimer: Raziel and the boys are owned by Eidos and Crystal Dynamics.
I do not own them and have no money.

         A young widowed mother opened the shutters to her son’s room. The seven-year-old boy squirmed underneath his blankets and hid his face in his pillow. 
          “It is such a beautiful day today, “his mother said, “And here you are, sleeping it away.”
 Her only answer was a muffled groan. With a sigh the mother went to her son’s bed and ripped the blankets off. 
          “Come along dear,” she said, “You have chores to do.”
With another groan her son sat up. He brushed his black hair out of his eyes and yawned. 
          “Atta boy.” His mother said with a smile and ruffled his hair, “I’ll start breakfast, in the meantime, why don’t you bring back Mr. Darbey’s cow to him.”
          “It got out again?” the boy asked as he changed. His mother nodded, “Found her this morning, trying to get into my garden. He really needs to repair that fence. If the wolves get to her, that will be the end of that.”
          “I’ll take her back,” the little boy said and put his boots on. His mother had scraped up every penny she had to buy him a pair of good black leather boots. That was a year ago and the heavy things were still about a size to big. He never complained though, he knew how expensive such shoes were, and was happy that they were big enough so he could grow into them. Now he hoped to collect enough money from the odd jobs he did for their neighbors to buy his mother one of the dresses they had seen in one of the shops on the village. 
          The boy went downstairs and outside. Mr. Darbey’s old brown and white cow was tied to the fence of his mother’s garden, tearing away at the fine grasses at her feet.
          “Dumb animal,” he said as he untied her and started to lead her away, “Do you know that these woods are crawling with wolves and other animals that will eat you? Not to mention all those demons and vampires.”
          The cow gave no reply and continued to chew a wisp of grass. The little boy and the cow walked silently down the path from his home and onto the small dirt road. Mr. Darbey’s home was about half a mile down the road, a small cabin and a dilapidated barn that was hidden in the heavy woods. Mr. Darbey’s wife had died long before the boy’s parents had even been married and the old man lived all alone except for his animals. But he was a sweet man that would give the shirt off his back to a stranger. 
          A few minutes later the little boy could hear the sound of horses. He looked behind him and saw a group of five horsemen. All but one were in armor and helmets. On their helmets, hung a long red braid. 
          Sarafan, the boy knew them well. This road was a major route for them, but these looked like high-ranking officials. The four in armor rode on each side of an elderly man in a long hooded robe. A staff with a large purple orb was attached to his saddle. They came to a stop next to the odd pair on the road.
          “Excuse me boy.” The elderly man said politely, “Could you tell me which way is Corhagen?”
          The boy nodded and pointed down the road, “There is a fork in the road about the three miles down, take right there and you should reach it in about half a day.”
          “Thank you very much my boy.” The old man said and tossed the boy a few gold coins. The Sarafan began to ride away but one stayed back.
          “Where are you heading lad?” he asked. 
          “To my neighbor’s, this is his cow. She broke lose during the night.”
          “Well be careful on these roads. The animals are not the only blood thirsty fiends out here.”
          “Yes sir.” The boy replied. The Sarafan gave him a polite wave and rode off. Soon they were out of sight and the boy put the coins in his pocket and started off again. As excited as he should have been over the money, he only smiled, a look of awe in his eyes.
         “You know I want to be like them.” He told the bovine next to him, “To be a Sarafan, to be able to fight vampires, what nobler cause could there be?”
         Again, the cow offered no reply. The boy grinned, “I’ll be a great Sarafan knight, I know it, a big hero. I’ll be a legend. My brothers and I, riding fearlessly into battle, it’s like something out of the stories Momma tells me before I go to sleep.” 
          The cow, once again, kept her thoughts to herself. The boy sighed and kept going down the dirt road, hoping to catch sight of the Sarafan and that strange old man with the white eyes. 
          They reached Mr. Darby’s home a few minutes later. The boy led the cow to her pen, not surprised to see the broken fence. He fixed it the best he could, resetting the post, well knowing it would fall over again. He heard the backdoor open and saw Mr. Darbey come out. He was still in his bedclothes and his thin white hair was a mess.
          “Well morning lad.” He said and yawned, “What brings you here this early?”
          “Your cow escaped again Mr. Darbey, I brought her back.” The boy told him and brushed his hair out his face. Mr. Darbey cupped his hand to his ear, “What you said boy?”
The little boy sighed again and then yelled, “I brought your cow back! She had gotten out again!”
          “Oh!” the nearly deaf man said, “That damn cow, I guess I have to fix that fence one of these days.”
          “I can do it for you sir.”
          “Eh?”
          “Would you like me to fix your fence sir?!”
          “Oh! Yes, that would be very nice. I don’t have much, but I can pay you. Seeing as you want to but your mother that dress.”
          “Thank you sir!”
          “Why don’t you come in and have some breakfast.” Mr. Darbey offered. The boy shook his head, “Sorry, but Momma is waiting for me!”
          “Well maybe next time.” Mr. Darbey said and headed back inside, “You can come back tomorrow and I’ll pay you for the fence. And tell that pretty mother of yours that I send my love.”
          “Yes sir!” 
The boy headed out back towards the road. While walking there, he found a large stick and picked it up and started playing with it. 
          “Ha!” he shouted, “I am a great Sarafan priest! Unhand that lady you fiend!”
          He sliced through the air at his invisible opponents, pretending that he was a powerful knight of the Sarafan, fighting along side his noble brethren.
          “Ah ha! Vampire scourge! Now you shall face the Sarafan!”
          The little boy turned around, walking backwards, “They have us surrounded! Men, you go to the left, I shall take the right. We must save the princess! We have to-”
          He bumped into someone. The boy was so caught up in the moment that he cried out in surprise and jumped forward. He tripped over his make belief sword and fell to the ground.
          “Oh, I’m sorry.” He said as he got to his feet, “I didn’t see you.”
He turned around and felt all feeling leave his body. He had never seen a vampire or a demon before, but this had to be one of the two.
          It was the size of a full-grown man, blue skin, and clawed hands and feet. It’s mouth and nose was covered with an old brown cloth with two identical strange symbols. Its eyes glowed like embers, a bright white that glowed deep in the sockets.
          It looked down at the boy for a moment, saying nothing. Then they heard the sound of horses galloping and dogs barking in the distance. The monster whipped his head around towards the sound. His eyes narrowed and he took a few steps back.
          “Damn Moebius.” It spat, “He knows he will not be able to find me.”
The creature looked back at the boy, “You better go home boy. All hell is about to break loose.”
          With that he disappeared, just vanished into thin air. The little boy could just continued to stare at the empty space where the monster used to occupy. He blinked once, twice, unbelieving of what had just happened.
          Then the five horsemen he had seen earlier came barreling down the path. The boy barely jumped out the way in time to avoid getting hit. Several more horsemen and some dogs followed.
          The old man stopped his horse and looked at the boy, “Did you see a creature with blue skin come this way?” 
          The boy nodded, “It disappeared.”
The old man swore under his breath, “He went into the Spectral Realm.” He looked back at the Sarafan, “Come, we have to find him before he and Kain can find Vorador.”
          With that they all took off down the path. The boy ran after them, trying to follow. He saw them stop again further down the road and then take off again. As he got closer he saw his mother standing at the gate. The Sarafan had stopped and asked her as well. 
          When she saw him she rushed to him and held him, “Oh I was so worried. Those men said that some kind of creature was loose.”
          “I’m okay Momma.” The boy told her. She stood up and smiled, “Thank God. Now, come along Raziel, we should go inside.”
          “Yes Momma.” Raziel said. As his mother led him inside, his mind was still on that strange creature that he had seen, and its cold white glowing eyes.

END
2002  
 

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