[chapter 6] + The Child +

Cadens Orithiah is a known child all throughout the village. He was known not for good reasons. Cadens, being in an early age of 14, lost both his parents four years ago due to unexplainable reasons. The poor child did not even get the chance to see even the bodies of both his mother and his father. All he could remember was that his parents went on a hike for 2 days, leaving him the the care of Asthralle’s inn owner. Then the bad news reached him: his parents were dead.

No one exactly knew what happened even up to this day. Local patrollers reported seeing Cadens’ parents’ things lying around the ground, viciously torn and destroyed. They also reported seeing blood marks all over but neither the body of his mother nor his father was found.

The poor child sank into depression. He refused to talk to anyone, not even Asthralle’s priests and elders who willingly offered to help him. Everyday he takes the risks and goes up to that horrid place where his parents died. A white cross now stood in that spot and Cadens would spend hours in complete in total silence as he sat down beside the cross.

A year or two passed. Cadens was starting to recover from the trauma and the depression he went through. He now permanently lived in the local inn because he refused to be adopted by anyone. He begged the inn owner to let him occupy one of the rooms and he would just work in repayment. Moved with pity, the Inn owner agreed.

Cadens’ daily routine was simple. Everyday he would wake up as early as 6am and he would help out in cleaning the Inn. The owner would give him breakfast afterwards which would soon be followed by his morning exercise. Cadens would hike back up the mountains to where his parents’ cross laid. He somehow enjoyed the scenery of the forests, the sounds that the animals make, the clear blue sky even the old hut that was rumored to be cursed. The kid appreciated seeing these things first before seeing the white cross which constantly reminded him that his parents were indeed gone.