That of course is because even tho Woldemir is poor, he is a very wise and humble man and the reason of his current financial issue is of course not his fault. But a tragedy that happened very shortly after his son Eric was born, is to blame.

Eric lost his mother in a very young age. He doesn't even remember how she looks like. Even worse, he doesn't know anything about her. He just knows her name, Isabel. A truly beautiful name indeed.

But of course he always wanted to know more about her, instead of just whispering her name on long nights filled with thoughts. Always asking himself why his own father won't tell him more about his beloved mother.

When Woldemir is asked about his wife, he does nothing more than changing the topic.

A lot of times he even pretended that he didn't hear that question. He always remains silent towards that topic and no one, especially Eric. Knows why.

That silence is slowly drifting Eric and his father apart. Drifting away like an abandoned little boat floating across the ocean.

But in times like this, family needs to stick together.

It is a cruel world out there in these dark medieval times, Eric just has to stay strong. So far it is his only option.

Summer is close to an end, and as always Woldemir and Eric have to worry about the food situation.

Winter is cold and harsh on these lands, and growing plants on the small cruel terrain that they own is difficult to tackle even at summer. Attempting to grow anything at Winter is a foolish move and of course a waste of gold coins, gold that Woldemir and Eric don't even have.

Sometimes Eric wonders how his father could even afford this small house surrounded by this cruel small land.

Its small but it still would need a few hundred gold coins to afford.

How they own this small property and why they are living in these conditions has always puzzled Eric's mind.

As mentioned before, Winter is next door and the food that should last throughout the winter is Woldemir's biggest concern right now.

Throughout the summer, Woldemir and Eric planted and harvested vegetables and fruits such as: oranges, tomatoes and cabbages. Plants that do not require any specific type of dirt quality or special care but also are worth a few gold coins.

The plan is for Woldemir and Eric to sell those plants and use that money to buy cheaper food.

Cheaper food that will hopefully be enough to feed them through the blood freezing Winter. It might not be something that they prefer to do, but as their options are limited and because they don't want to kill innocent animals for food. They don't have another choice.

However to sell what they planted and harvested through the punis.h.i.+ng summer heat, they would need to travel towards a Kingdom.

A kingdom known as Crutal Kingdom.

A Kingdom with walls strong enough to help her people withstand a lot of b.l.o.o.d.y battle for hundreds of years and has earned the t.i.tle of being the Capital Kingdom in the entire country of Occidentis Igne.

Woldemir and Eric couldn't nearly afford to live in that Kingdom.

Which is why they live in a small house, located a couple of moons away from it.

But of course that doesn't mean that they can't use the opportunity to sell their goods there.

Crutal kingdom is well known as a place of trade.

As the morning sun s.h.i.+nes brightly and gracefully over the surrounding mountains, Woldemir approaches Eric who is peacefully sleeping in his small room.

He wakes Eric up and says

"son, it is that time of the year again. I know that staying here with me in the farm throughout the summer has limited your adventures you like to take around these woods, but we need to secure the food situation for the winter.

After that, you will have more time for yourself."

Eric doesn't get along to well with his father. All because of the silence Woldemir shows towards Eric's questions.

Eric thinks that his father is cruel. He thinks that his father, isn't exactly father material. Which is why he is being silent towards him now. Eric is reasonable enough to help but he has chosen to not utter a single word towards his father. He thought to himself

"I deserve to know the truth, but if my so called father has chosen to stay silent towards my questions, i will be silent towards all of his questions and topics as well."

Eric stands up without saying a single word and is going towards the door.

Woldemir's heart is a bit shattered by this behaviour.

But it is a price he was willing to pay for Eric's mental well being.

This is what silence can do towards a father and son bond.

But Woldemir is indeed a n.o.bleman.

And this situation that they are in is all because of a tragedy that struck them over a decade ago.

The only thing Woldemir is to blame for, is for being protective towards his son's feelings.

If Eric knew the truth, it would haunt him forever. He would always blame himself and hate his existence.

Woldemir fears that greatly, so he has chosen to stay quiet.

Woldemir and Eric loaded all the fruits and vegetables on their Wagon, a Wagon for Black Wind to pull through these dirt covered roads.

You may be wondering who Black Wind is? Well, Black Wind is a beautiful Horse that they own.

He is a six feet tall horse covered in beautiful black fur and with long majestic Pitch black hair going down from the surface area of his neck.

And of course we can not forget to mention the eye catching strong leg muscles on him. Black Wind is a truly strong beauty.

The Wagon that Black Wind will be pulling isn't exactly the best or the biggest but at least it works enough to carry those goods.

The Wagon is about eight feet long and four feet wide. It might sound like an average normal Wagon but the different thing about this one is that it isn't tall enough. It is a few inches over four feet tall and the top is completely cut off. Meaning it doesn't offer any protection from the environment at all and it can not fit a good amount of fruits and vegetables. Even tho Eric and Woldemir tried their best to fit in as much goods as they can, there just wasn't enough s.p.a.ce left for Eric to sit comfortably on that Wagon.

All the sellable fruits and vegetables are in the Wagon but if Eric wishes to join his father, he would have to sit over the cabbages because even Woldemir can barely fit in where the horse orientor(driver) should be. As if having no protection from the environment wasn't enough to deal with. It gets even worse later on when night hits and the moon starts s.h.i.+ning.

Because the night can be very cold. Luckily they have sleeping bags. But that will fight off only half of the cold weather. Enough for them not to become frozen corpses at least. Black Wind has already enough burden over his shoulders. Literally! He is pulling a whole Vagon. And Eric just doesn't want to stress the big beauty furthermore by climbing on his back.

Basically Eric will be sitting on the back part of the Vagon. Over the Cabbages more accurately. Because cabbages are less easy to squash if sat on.

They lock the farmhouse's door and without wasting any more time, they start their little journey to reach the magnificent Crutal Kingdom.

As worrying about what to eat while on the road didn't seem to be something to worry about. Something that got both of them tired along that long road, was Boredom.

Crutal Kingdom is two moons away, the road is long and the summer end sun has no mercy.

This boredom, slowly and slowly got Eric tired enough to fall asleep.

He fell asleep on lumpy and uncomfortable cabbages. That's what boredom can do.

But what both of them didn't even expect on their first day of traveling is the fact that adrenaline rising danger is about to strike them.

Because while they were traveling, ahead of them was a whole Black Wolf Pack blocking their path.

If Woldemir tries to slow the horse down and turn around, the Pack would catch up to them and get all over the Wagon and of course both of them would be in grave danger.

Woldemir didn't care about his safety, but it is his son Eric, he is worried about.

He promised his wife that he will protect Eric at any cost, right before she took her last breath and left this world.

And Woldemir is willing to put his life at risk to keep that promise.

Woldemir would do that, yes. But would it be a good idea to fight a pack of four foot tall Black Wolves with nothing but a small rusty iron dagger? NO!! of course it isn't.

They both would end up being a special treat for the pack.

So with no other options, Woldemir shouts

"Black Wind. Do not turn back. Run forward BlackWind, do not stop at nothing. Run as fast as you can. Our lives depend on you now boy"

If you like my work, don't forget to at least vote. Comments would be very appreciated too. Thank you for the support.