SWNOVELXO Chapter 26: You Know Too Much, Boy. Too Much..
For a second, Auren made frantic movements—the lesson of how to deal with flying balls of fire was not included in his everyday training. Auren used more Chi than he should have and pushed himself to the side; the force messed up his balance, and his small knees buckled—the wolf was less than a meter from him.
There was no time to get up. Auren pushed his sword forward, hoping the wolf was dumb enough to run into it—but before he could find out, a black silhouette with a slight scarlet color to its tail attacked the eyes of the weirdly running or sliding wolf. The rotten creature tried to stop, but it was too late. Auren pushed himself forward, adjusted the angle of the sword slightly to not hurt Maru, and buried the sharp sword deep into the chest of the rotting wolf.
Auren powered both his leg and right hand with Chi and pulled himself up along with his sword that cleaved through the growling wolf making his last sounds in the world—it split the rotten head in half. The bones coming out of its head, and the mist and liquid leaking, made it the most disgusting thing Auren had ever seen.
'Whooos'
Came another ball of fire as the boar closed in behind the wolf—this time Auren did not panic and boosted himself a little to jump high up, dodging the fireball at the last second. He didn't have to fight the monstrous thing. Sable, Granny, and Kenzo's mother had picked up the two men and were almost near the backdoor of the house. Just a few more seconds and he could go back.
Auren kept his sword straight and slowly moved back, the boar chasing behind with its jerking and sliding movements. He was trying to make a full circle like this before any more Thralls noticed them and came closer—not that he could see any in the dark forest.
"Auren!" Sable shouted.
They were done. Auren also jumped back with Chi boosting his leg muscles one last time and used the tree behind him to jump once again—the boar charged headfirst into the tree trunk, giving him some precious seconds to run back into the backyard of Kenzo's house and close the fence gate. It was made of wood though—the boar could burn it down. Ignoring the boar, Auren and Maru rushed back into the house—his heart was beating like a drum, his breathing ragged. He had enough stamina, but what he had done exhausted him mentally and physically both—taxing his young body twofold.
Pulling him in, Sable closed the door and locked it from inside. Auren sprawled on the stone floor, breathing hard. His small sword, with a bloody, sharp dark edge, fell to the side. The chaos was too much for the young Kenzo to keep sleeping—Auren saw the young boy looking at everyone with confusion from the doorway between the two rooms.
Granny and Kenzo's mother were bandaging and pressing on the wounds of Hanzo and Dante to stop the bleeding. It looked like Dante had already bandaged himself and Hanzo once with the torn clothes of his own. The few pieces of steel armor he wore had been stained red—the breastplate, boots, and bracers were removed by Granny and thrown aside.
Sable rushed to his side, but Auren simply gestured for her to aid Granny and Hanzo's mother. Sable bit her lip, staring at him with glistening, tear-held eyes, her face contorted with feelings even she had no idea how to convey—anger, relief, frustration, happiness.. It was a mess, in short. She only muttered under her breath,
"Thank you.."
Then she moved beside her husband and helped Granny quickly bandage Dante and apply the healing paste they had made in advance, anticipating the worst.
Auren breathed for a few more seconds, calming himself down, then he too got up despite feeling a slight numbness in his body after using the Chi. He smiled at Kenzo, grabbed the guy's shoulder in his arm, and turned him around,
"Don't worry. Your father and my father are just sleeping. They will wake up soon."
Kenzo kept asking questions about what was happening, and Auren tried his best to make the story as kid-friendly as he could. He did not lie and told him their fathers were hurt because of animals and they were given medicine. They were just asleep right now, and in the morning, they would get up with them.
He kept Kenzo in the bed beside him and watched him fall asleep after asking all kinds of questions his little brain could think of. Auren too was feeling exhausted and closed his eyes—he had no idea when he fell asleep. But when he woke up in the morning—he was back in his own house. Kenzo was sleeping beside him and the morning sun was high in the sky outside the open window.
Auren got up; his bloodstained clothes had been changed. He opened the door and found Granny outside, sitting on the wooden bench—taking in the gentle rays of the morning sun with closed eyes. Auren thought she was asleep, but when he moved to go behind the house to pee in the outhouse, she spoke up,
"You were awake the whole night, right?"
Auren stopped in his tracks, looking up at her.
"How could I sleep?" he replied, not making any excuse.
"That trait of yours—feeling more than you should—is not always a good thing, kid. A child should not have to carry such burdens—your soul will tire prematurely."
Auren smiled. Wasn't that the fucking fact. Even Granny with no education or psychological knowledge knew that. Why wouldn't his stupid brain realize that? He didn't regret helping though—even if it wasn't his job to do so. Even if they realized he was a weird one and distanced themselves from him—he couldn't let a man die. Especially the one who felt for him, even if it was misplaced affection.
"Someone had to do something.." said Auren.
"Hm.." Granny opened her eyes and looked down into his, "..for that, I apologize. We shouldn't have put you in such a position—I should have stepped out even if—"
"No," Auren stopped her. "There is no comparison. You or Father, to us both, are an essential part of our life. He would have hated himself all his life—I know it. Just as we would hate ourselves for letting you do that."
The wrinkled face of the old lady smiled a little, still the tears held in her eyes fell down nonetheless.
"You know too much, boy. Too much.."