"It's too noisy... I gotta figure out how to get outta here," The Boy thought.
It was a celebration, and nearly every kid in town had shown up to the river. And it was in his honor. Most didn't know why they were there and were just happy to be partying, but...
"DEMON CHILD! DEMON CHILD!"
Lori was standing atop a large boulder screaming like a maniac. It was as if he was the one who had just won the fight.
The Boy had quite the opposite experience, though, and hated it there. He couldn't stand the celebration, filled with people who had scorned him. To be frank, he hated most of them, and he didn't like any of them.
He snuck away from the gathering and climbed up the hill to the stable.
"Haaah... no one even bought me any food," he sighed.
"Here," Andel said, tossing a piece of jerky. "Why aren't you down there? It's your party."
The Boy jumped into the hay beside him.
"Eugh. I wish that knight lady would just come and take me away already."
"You really wanna leave that badly?"
"Tch, don't you?"
"I don't know... I kinda like what we've got going for us. Me, you, Lori. Soren, too."
"Is this you convincing me to stay or something? Because I'm not gonna."
"Nah, you were never meant for a place like this. Everyone knows it already."
"Yeah, and that's no good thing. It's why we sleep in hay every night."
"...If you become a knight, would you mind coming back for me? I wouldn't mind working for a big-shot knight."
"Hell no. If you wanna do that, then you gotta come find me."
"Actually, I think I wanna be a knight."
"Huh? All of a sudden?"
"Well, I don't know. That knight lady was so cool. She even said she'd take you in as a ward, how lucky is that?"
"Not at all! You don't wanna be some old hag's sugar baby!"
"You idiot! If she wants to make you a knight, she must've seen something in you!"
"So because she wants me to be a knight, you want to be a knight? Aren't you just following me again?"
"No, it's not like that at all! And if I went to the army, I wouldn't even be near you anyway. I just wanna do it. I wanna try. And I could travel and be free, just like we've talked about."
"…Do what you want. But I'm not begging her to take you along or anything! She wanted me alone. Plus, didn't you wanna be a wizard?"
"I don't actually want to become a wizard, idiot. That's impossible. You've gotta be born with it. Magic."
"I dunno, wasn't there that one boy a few years back who was taken by their tower? He didn't even know he was a wizard until they came knocking on his door."
"Pfft, should we go find that wizard and ask him to check us for it?" Andel laughed.
"...Wait, we totally should."
The stable doors slammed open and a few distressed kids ran in. Soren was at the front of them.
"Lori—they took him!" he shouted.
"Lori? Who did?" Andel asked, brushing the hay off his pants.
"Ronnie's men! They beat and dragged him into town!"
"And no one stopped them? You didn't even try?"
"Of course they didn't," The Boy said. "Get out of my way."
He pushed through the kids, shoving Soren to the side, and left the stable. He took in the evening air with a deep breath to calm his anger.
"I was ready to sleep, and now I have to go and fight some more? This would be so easy if I was just... a little stronger."
"Fuck... how'd Lori get dragged off like an idiot?" Andel groaned, jogging alongside The Boy.
"Hold on, don't go without me!" Soren shouted, chasing after him. "You don't even know where they went!"
"And you do?" The Boy asked.
"Yes!"
The two followed Soren into town, and the sky turned redder by the second. The alleys quickly turned dark and sprawling.
"I'm surprised Soren isn't pissing his pants right now," The Boy whispered to Andel.
"He's probably really worried about Lori. I'm impressed. I'm surprised he knows—"
A loud sound echoed through the alley, and Andel crumpled to the floor. A young man stepped from the shadows, holding a wooden plank.
"Soren, watch out—!" The Boy shouted as he was slammed face first into the ground.
He struggled and squirmed, trying to escape his assailant's grasp. It was futile.
"Wow, that was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I was a little worried, since I heard you didn't care about your 'friends,' but I guess I was wrong! Maybe you should've cared a little less about them, considering..."
Ronnie stepped out into the light, revealing himself. In his hand was Lori, being dragged by the ankle. It looked like a big stuffed animal being dragged around by an even bigger toddler.
"Damn, you're ugly! I really did that to you?" The Boy laughed. "Soren, get this guy off me!"
"You're slow as shit. He led you here on purpose!"
"Soren... you betrayed me!?"
"I-it doesn't count as betrayal if you... if you never included me in the first place!"
"Oh my fucking—you're such a loser, I just wanna snap your skinny little neck you ungrateful—"
He was cut off by a stomp to the back of his head and made him eat dirt.
"Soren, you don't gotta... I'm sorry," Andel murmured.
His words were slurred and unclear, and he clawed at the wall to get steady.
"We'll... leave you alone. We'll even leave town if you want!"
The Boy, who was blinded by rage, did not see what Andel did: the fact that the three there, Ronnie, Soren, and the young man, all had real killing intent.
"Ehh, what do you think, Soren?"
"The deal's still on, right?"
"Seriously!? What kind of deal did you make with this asshole?" The Boy asked.
"Soren here got bored of hanging around with your sorry little demon child 'gang.' He wanted something more, so I said he could join ours. Only if he kills his old friends first, of course."
Suddenly, The Boy got a lot less worried.
"Ha! You really think Soren has the guts to do something like that? He couldn't kill a—"
"Don't look down on me, animal bastard!" the little boy yelled, shoving past Ronnie and jumping onto the still unconscious Lori.
He unsheathed a small knife, and in a dramatic motion, shakily raised it into the air.
"Soren, don't do it!" Andel cried.
He brought it down, and though neither Andel nor The Boy could see through the dark, they both knew what had happened.
A silence filled the air.
"Oh, shit... he didn't just... Soren didn't... just... oh, gaud, I think I'm gonna puke."
Suddenly... The Boy got a lot more worried...