"The Vinter"
While running with other children, Vinter accidentally noticed thick black smoke rising above his house, so he ran there as fast as he could.
When he got there, he saw himself as an adult, holding his dead father in his arms. Turning his head, he saw the Elves running away, the very ones who had done all this. A moment later, he heard someone shouting his name: – Vinter! Son of a bitch, come to your senses!
For a few more seconds, he did not understand what was happening until his world began to blur, and a bright light began to shine in his eyes, causing him to come to his senses without his helmet and hanging upside down from a tree near a small ball of wool that was jumping and cursing him with all the words he knew.
– Glory to the Seven Dragons, you stupid creature, you're awake!
Shouting this, the little ball of hair or wool raised its arms and jumped up, then stopped a moment later and began to bark at Vinter for hanging in the tree.
While the ball continued to shout, Vinter simply closed his eyes and exhaled loudly, wondering how he had got himself into such a stupid situation. After thinking for a moment, he immersed himself in his memories to understand how it had all come to this.
"Hmm, first I left the city, then, on Zerta's orders, I went to the Bartian Mountains where I killed several Elves, and then... fuck, what then!"
While he was thinking, a hammer flew into his head, knocking him unconscious again. The hammer was thrown by an angry ball of wool because Vinter did not respond to his words.
When he realised what he had done, he cursed loudly and exhaled, then rubbed his little hands in leather gloves, walked over to a tree and began to climb it. From the side, it looked incredibly strange, even funny, because his thick hair hid the hands he was using to cling to the tree.
– Damn Vinter! Just wake up, and I'll show you!
Even when he climbed onto the branch to which Vinter was tied, he did not stop scolding him for losing consciousness again and for having to climb the tree just to get Vinter down.
– Why the hell are you making me do this, Vinter? Me, big Krint!
Shouting these words, he groaned, tensed up, and hit the branch with all his might with his little hammer, causing it to fall to the ground with a crunch, and with it Vinter, who was not only unconscious thanks to Krint himself, but now also lay under a rather large branch that had landed nicely on his stomach.
At the same time, Vinter plunged back into memories of years gone by, when he was still an ordinary soldier in the army of a local lord, who, on the day of the Elves' attack, held back his men for quite a long time for fear of his own death.
– My lord! Please give the order to attack! While some soldiers begged their lord for permission, Vinter and a few other soldiers, without waiting for orders from the pitiful lord, ran to help their families and ordinary residents.
– Vinter, you understand what will happen to us if we don't succeed, don't you?
– I understand perfectly well! But I'd rather fight alongside my father than tremble alongside that freak! With these words, he ran even faster towards his house to help his father in battle.
However, the moment he reached them, he saw an elf in silver armour, glistening in the moonlight, thrust his sword into his father with a sharp blow, and his father hung in the air a few centimetres above the ground, but even at that moment, he did not let go of his sword.
– Father!
Hearing the cry, the elf quickly drew his sword and slowly began to retreat, and then to run, as the cries of the enraged army began to echo behind Vinter.
At the same time, Vinter ran with all his might to his father to try to save him. "He was too late, too slow, too weak." At that moment, these thoughts echoed in his head, and tears streamed down his cheeks, which he could not stop no matter how hard he tried.
A moment later, he felt wetness, followed by a sharp awakening from a bucket of ice– cold water poured from the bucket held by Krint .
– Bitch! Damn you... Why the hell did you pour water on me?!
– It's so that your stupid head will come to its senses faster after being hit by my wonderful hammer, heh– heh.
– … Damn it, you threw it at me again! "That bloody Krint is going to kill me with that damn hammer one day."
– Ha, don't worry, I can control my strength, it's just that this time you made me angrier than usual.
– And how did my pathetic self deserve the wrath of the great Krint? "Probably forgot to clean up after myself in his workshop again, or maybe he's celebrating some mythical holiday."
He thought about it in his usual manner, not noticing how Krint was getting angry again because Vanter was ignoring his words.
– Damn it, Vanter, you're definitely going to get a crack in your head now.
– Hey! I didn't do anything.
– That's the problem! Krint exhaled loudly and put his small hand on his chest.
"Hmm, I wonder if he covered his eyes so he wouldn't see me, or if he put his hand to his forehead out of anger."
– Vinter! You're not listening to what I'm saying again!
– I'm listening, calm down... How do you say it, For the sake of the seven dragons!
Hearing Vinter teasing him with sacred dragons, Krint hissed and raised his fur like a cat.
– All right, all right, I'll shut up. Stop doing what you're doing.
"I've known him for years, but I still get scared when he does things like this. Well, I hope he calms down now."
– Look here, Vanter, my hammer is always ready to hit you.
With that, he put his hand on the hammer and stroked it lightly, and Vanter's body shivered, either from the cold water or from fear of Krint.
– Come on, enough with your tricks.
With that, he got up and began to undress to change into dry clothes, while Krint began to speak.
– These tricks, as you put it, have saved your life more than once in the last two years.
Vanter froze slightly at what he heard, then continued to undress, revealing his strong, muscular body, covered in scars from training with his mentor, to the beautiful world.
– Yes, yes, but what's the main thing? Right, the fact that you save me, and everything else is trivial.
By the time he finished the sentence, Vanter was completely naked, turning his head to find the dry clothes he had left here from time to time, since Krint's home was also his, and besides, Vanter was often sent to these parts.
"And where did I leave my clothes that time? Hmm, definitely not in Krint's chest and not at the entrance."
– Listen, Krint, have you seen my things that I left here a few weeks or months ago?
– Hmm, you mean the ones I burned a week ago?
Vanter glanced at Krint with distrust of his words, but did not rule out the truthfulness of them. "Come on, he couldn't have burned my things, although wait a minute, it's Krint, he definitely could have done it."
Without taking his eyes off Krint, still standing naked in the middle of the small house, Vanter shook his head and nodded, depending on whether he believed Krin or not.
– Vanter! Are you going to stand in front of me naked like a cheap slut for much longer?
– Then give me some clothes, and I'll stop being a cheap slut and become an elite one, ha ha!
Unable to withstand Vanter's dull and absurd humour, the fluffy ball hissed again, grabbed the hammer with a sharp movement of his hand, and sent it straight into the head of poor Vanter, who was laughing at his own joke.