Hans' Brave Quest

The wind blew my hair back, caressing my face with its cool hands. It felt so good to be out in the elements, I didn't realize how much I'd missed it. I stood there, basking in the breeze and letting it carry away the stress of so many days cooped up inside.

"So this is where you've been sneaking off to."

Startled, I turned around and saw my friend, Kristian, walking towards me from the direction of the village. He wore a wary expression as he approached, but he was smiling all the same. I opened my mouth, then closed it for a moment before speaking again. "How long have you known?"

He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and put his hands into his pockets. "I figured it out last night when I noticed your absence at dinner." He smiled as he said this, but there was an edge to his voice that didn't quite match the smile. "Your mother was about ready to send out a search party."

My face flushed red. I knew how much she worried about me; she was always telling me how important it was to get more rest if we were going to be traveling soon. But after being cooped up here for so long, I needed the solitude and fresh air to rejuvenate myself - especially now that our journey was drawing near. And there was only one place I could think of that would give me such solace: the top of the hill overlooking our valley. It had been a favorite spot of mine ever since my father died and left me alone with my mom and her dangerous profession. Every time we'd fought or she'd told me that she couldn't bear to lose another child, this hill gave me peace. And now, on this very hillside, she was fighting for her life against half a dozen demons that had snuck into our home while we were asleep. Thank goodness for Kristian's timely arrival; he saved us both from certain death by slaying them all with his blades. The wind carried away my thoughts once again as it ruffled through my hair. I let myself relax into its arms and took in a deep breath of fresh air. But just as I was calming down, Kristian spoke again. His voice sounded nervous now and held something else that concerned me: pity?

"You know what's going to happen when we get there," he said softly, interrupting my thoughts once again. He stared at the ground as he spoke; it seemed like he didn't want to look at me while he did so.

"Oh," I replied softly as well, understanding what he meant immediately. We certainly weren't strangers to each other; we'd grown up together in this village after all. And everyone knew about Kristian's visions - everyone except for me until recently anyway. It seemed like every day that went by gave him a new vision: some were terrible storms of war and famine while others were images of hope and prosperity - but they always came true no matter what we did to stop them from happening! That's why they called him "The Seer"; though sometimes he wished they hadn't because people kept asking him questions that he couldn't answer! Of course not everyone believed him; some even called him insane - including his own parents! But Kristian insisted that they were real visions sent from the gods: prophecies of things yet to be seen! His words still echoed in my ears: "I don't need proof," he'd always say incredulously when confronted with these accusations; "the Gods wouldn't send such visions if they didn't want us to do something about them!"

And now...now we needed something done about one of those visions! Although none of us could see what Kristian had seen clearly in his vision (he never could remember them himself), we knew enough about his prophecies to know that nothing good awaited us at our journey's end! "Do you know which path we should take?" I asked him hopefully; maybe if we took the right one then everything would turn out alright and nothing bad would happen! After all, Kristian's visions usually weren't clear enough for us understand until after they happened - and we didn't want something bad happening before we got there! Oh please tell me that you know which way we should go! What if someone already has? What if someone already took one of those paths?! Please tell me that everything will be alright!

Kristian sighed heavily and finally looked up at me when he responded: "No," he said sorrowfully before looking back down at the ground again; "I don't know which path is right." He paused for a moment before continuing: "But there is another thing that you should know about my vision..." His words trailed off as if he couldn't bear saying whatever it was that followed next...but after several moments passed without any further explanation from him, I felt compelled to ask him what it was: "What is it?" My question came out as barely more than a whisper; I wasn't sure if I wanted to hear what else there might be information on since nothing good could come from doing so...could it?

Kristian lifted his head slowly and met my eyes squarely with his own brown ones; their sadness pierced into my soul like sharp knives digging into soft flesh! But then he spoke: "I can save her..." His voice cracked under the weight of those words as tears started running down his cheeks...tears of pain caused by things unknown!

Kristian continued talking between sobs: "If you go on this journey alone," he said shakily while wiping away tears with his sleeve; "then everything will happen just like it did in my vision." He stopped crying for a moment so that he could look back at me with tear-reddened eyes before continuing: "But if you agree to let me come along with you instead, then maybe," just maybe...but only maybe...nothing is certain anymore so don't get your hopes up yet...maybe, just maybe...if we're lucky enough...if everything goes perfectly...then maybe I can save her life!" Then Kristian buried his face into his hands and cried harder than ever before!

All thoughts flew out of my mind as soon as Kristian uttered those fateful words; nothing else mattered anymore besides saving my mother's life! She meant everything to me after all - no matter how much she drove me insane with her nagging! Without pausing to think about anything else other than her sweet face or warm smile or tender touch...no matter how much I wanted Kristiain's help or not...I sobbed uncontrollably too as I threw myself into his arms and cried along with him while trying not to make eye contact with anything else around us because nothing mattered anymore except for saving her life!! Nothing mattered anymore except for saving *her* life!!!