Kaya and Lincon's Redemptive Journey

As a small boy, I lived in the borderlands of Windalane. The kingdom was too small to be considered a real nation, and too large to be considered a true village. We were governed by the king and his council, and we shared our resources with our neighbouring villages. At the time, I did not understand why we were told stories about the evil that lay beyond our borders, but today I know that we were told so that we would always be careful where we walked.

"When you grow up, Lincon," my father said as he led me down the dirt path, "I want you to join the knights of Windalane."

"I don't want to join the knights!" I shouted back. "I want to go play with my friends!"

My father ignored me as he continued on his way. He had long ago given up on trying to make me listen. Being two years older than me, my siblings had grown tired of listening to me as well. Instead they simply went their own ways while they could still remember who they were. My mother had once told me that my name meant patience, and that it fit me well considering how often I stayed quiet despite being so impulsive. Despite this obvious truth, I still felt no patience for those around me.

My father finally stopped when he reached the edge of the forest. "Over there," he began as he pointed into the distance, "lies the land of destruction."

As far as I could see there was only more forest stretching endlessly into the horizon. There was no telling what lay beyond it; only that it must have been something bad if it was hidden so far away from us. "What's over there?" I asked in awe. It must have been something special if it was kept secret like this!

"Nothing good!" My father snapped at me before continuing on his way again. Before I could ask him anything else though, he turned back to face me and spoke with a soft voice: "And never forget what you saw here today." With these words he turned around again and walked deeper into the forest until he disappeared from view. My mother had told me before that my father was often lost in his thoughts and walked off without thinking about where he was going to end up - but she had also said that she didn't care because it was his job to get himself out of trouble if that happened anyway.

As I stared after him in confusion, I noticed an unfamiliar smell in the air which caused my nose to tingle slightly. After a few seconds though it suddenly occurred to me where I had smelled this smell before: When my mother cooked her special red soup! And just like last time she wanted everyone at home to come watch her cook because she wanted to show off how awesome she is at cooking! As fast as I could run, I made my way back home hoping to catch her in action - but when I got there everyone was already sitting at the table waiting for dinner and there was no sign of her anywhere!

* * *

"Where's Mom?" I shouted at no one in particular while running into the kitchen hoping to catch her preparing the soup - but all that greeted me was an empty table and some spilled soup all over the floor! As fear started creeping up inside of me, I looked up at my family members who were staring at me with concerned expressions on their faces. Suddenly someone grabbed my hand and held it tight - it was my sister Arina who wasn't much older than me! "What's wrong?" She asked as she shook my hand in hopes of calming me down - but that only worked for a second before another thought entered my mind: What if something happened? Just like last time? As fear gripped hold of me again, Arina squeezed even tighter while yelling out: "Lincon! Calm down!" But instead of calming down, all that did was trigger another memory: The night when we buried our mother!