Prologue

Author's note: This was the opening chapter of a story that I was tasked to write. While most other people did an opening chapter that was around 500 or so words to meet the criteria needed, I decided to take it a step further and begin to develop an original story idea and to continue to write along with make this the prologue. I feel like this bit was greatly rushed but now that I'm working on my own time frame, I feel like I can put a lot more effort in writing the subsequent chapters and adding more details to it, which I believe that I was lacking here. I hope you enjoy the story

The day began with the light shining through a small gap in the wall and right into Austeyn’s face. The light, first a small and almost unnoticeable present soon became more bright until his eyelids were no longer able to keep all the light from reaching his eyes, eventually forcing him to wake in a groggy state. With a groan he rises up and stretches, his muscles sore from the carpentry work that he had began to take up with a master in the hopes of having a higher sense of value in the new community that him and many like-minded people help found away from they prying eyes of the Lord of the County; in a way they had made their own county although not officially recognized or have a prominent bloodline that have higher status due to family ties. With minor frustration, he stands up and walk over to a crafted wooden box filled with various qualities of straw kept away from hungry vermin scurrying around, and returns to where the hole in the wall with a liberal amount of straw to be placed down next to the hole in. He inhales and exhales deeply and focus his mind. An outstretched hand not even a foot away from the wall begins to emit a glowing, swirling energy in shades of sea green as individual pieces of straw begin to glow in a similar color and lift up from the pile and begin to interweave with the already existing straw wall until all the straw in the pile was interwoven into the already existing straw wall. He begin to move on with a morning routine.

Magic was one of the reasons for their voluntary exile deeper into the forests of England. The Christian missionaries had converted most of the British isles to Christianity and with that conversion, peoples across the isles had dropped their beliefs that they had held which coordinated the withdrawal of magic from the mainstream. Christian lords of the land soon cracked down upon its usage, forbidding it. It was the inevitable parties hunting down users that caused a migration into a place that was more secluded from prying eyes of politicians and clergyman. That being said, it had been a long time since venturing hunting parties had entered the woods, people posing as gamekeepers Even in this small but safe haven, cracking down on users is still a common occurrence thanks to unintentional but inevitable migration of those who use it for malice...

Austeyn dons his clothing, taking care to roll the sleeves up for a another day in the carpenter’s. He had ruined many sleeves and had to visit the taylor on an almost regular basis. He left the hovel and walked down Cook’s Street and towards the town square. On his way, he begins to socialize with the teens walking down the street like him. Talk of rumors, dreams, girls, or the fine and destructive art of the warrior were hot topics. The small town square killed the conversation quick. There was a dead man hanging from gallows and swinging in the wind. Trials and deaths like his was getting more common as people with malicious intent migrated to the town and used it’s safe haven for their wicked purposes...

“He deserved it, you know. We don’t tolerate their kind here.” piped up Reed Fletcher, another teen his age. Austeyn had know him for a while, being in the same town before they migrated to this place. He had continued his family profession of crafting bow and making arrows when he left.

“I’ll agree with you there, Reed. People like him make the rest of us look bad. I just this morning had patched a hole in the wall using magic, meanwhile people like him think that we are all just like him, casting curses and hexes.” They continued walking past the square and onto their workplace, which were located in relative closeness. “We aren’t like that, it’s just not right to do what they are doing.”

“So, How’s the carpentry job going for you?”

“Still learning the finer arts. Hopefully I’ll be able to take my skill and perhaps make an improvement somewhere, Getting kind of tired of the cold wind still being able to blow through the straw walls despite being woven tighter than rope on a ropewalk so maybe a home made out of all wooden planks would be nice.”

“Ahaha.” Reed laughed quite at this notion. “Oh you and your’re bright ideas. You know that only high-class folks can only afford that.”

Austeyn scoffed. “You never know. I might just make a breakthrough somewhere. Magic is in fact on our side so while the rest of England is still living in homes made of straw, we’ll be living in high class all for the same effort.”

“I admire your sense of optimism, however if people like the hangman keep showing up, we’ll spend more time hanging the hexers than making any progress.”

“I wouldn’t say that, but we’ll see. I’ll talk to ya later, I got to get to work. Have fun making those longbows.”

“You have fun in the woodwork.” They both laughed and went on their way to their respective workplaces

The carpenter’s shop was a medium sized workshop was medium for the time, being able to have five apprentices and a master to work on various crafts. Austeyn walked into the workshop and grabbed his tools from the shelf and began to work on processing more wood for the stockade around the town. While the walls were set up, there was a request for a gatehouse and sentry towers for the archers in case someone finds the town and tries to besiege it. The wood needed consisted of long, thick pieces of wood that could support the weight of multiple people, even through the town might only consist of one-hundred-and-fifty or so people, the idea was to future-proof the town. It was great to have such help in dealing with the workload of, especially since most of the town’s structure was made mostly of wood instead of stone. If the master carpenter was the only one doing the work, the queue of works needed would extend far beyond even his capabilities, having apprentices helps out definitely. And it has it’s unspoken benefits.

A young lady walked into the workshop and spoke to the master carpenter, whom pointer her over in Austeyn’s direction. He knew this lady, her name was Catrin Arren. She descended from a rather high class Welsh family, exiled however it was discovered that her and her mother had been practicing magic in secret. Poor souls, they were chased out of their lands with fervor with almost nothing in their possession. In their flight, her father was shot in the leg by a crossbow bolt and was never seen or heard from again. It was by accident that they fled into the forest in which the settlement was located and a hunter found them exhausted and drinking from a small, clean pond. The town welcomed with open arms. It was a bit of a class-shift-shock for her, being able to peruse an education or hone her magical abilities was no longer a real option; her intellect however proved a great worth to the administrative peoples and those in need of errands done, it was a great way of earning money. Austeyn was really fortunate to catch her attention first and it seems that she had noticed his efforts, that was his hope at least.

“Oi Austeyn, can ya to fix us up something at the mill? The miller boys have done broke the thing again and we can’t grind up any grain for the bakers”

“Yeah, I think i have the skill to do that. What broke and what’s being grinded up?”

“Some rye they are making into rye bread. We got a lot of grains stored in the store.”

“Alright, what’s broken?”

“They broke one of the turnshafts while playing around, bunch o’ idiots they are. It’s not toooo bad, but it has put a bad hamper on us grinding up our rye. We need to get it fixed so we can bake some rye bread.” Her tone was enough  to tip him off about the extent of the damage

“A turnshaft, hmm. let me see what I’m dealing with and I’ll get to work.” They proceeded to travel to the windmill to see the extent of the damage and get some basic specifications of what was deeded. Catrin was right when she said that the miller boys were a bunch of idiots, The force needed to break the shaft was ludicrous. The shaft was broke in half, which was in impressive feet considering how thick it was. It was rather depressing to see so much work waisted in such a short amount of time. At least it wasn’t a fire ran through the windmill, that would have been disastrous.

“How?! How do you mess up like this? It’s broke in half despite being stouter than a rock, what did you 3 boys do?” Austeyn was flabbergasted. This important to have part of the windmill, it is what transfered the energy from the wind flowing in the air, through the wooden cogs and gears, and finally rotate the grinder that grinds up the grain into a usable rye flour in mass instead of having to manually turn a grindstone. The rye flower was vital for the production of rye bread, a common bread eaten.

Three of the miller kids with their heads hung in shame stood before Austeyn and Catrin, one the smallest one pipes up. “What does it matter to you?”

“Cause I’m responsible for fixing this thing when little bugs like you mess it up.”

“Oh yeah, what ya gonna do about it?”

“Don’t test me…” He raises up his his hand, and a sea green glow begins to swirl around his forearm, the demenior of the miller kids changed quickly. They had not learned how to properly utilize the raw magical energy that permeates the world. They would not know how to defend themselves from a magic-based attacks.

“We-we were just playin’ around and Jimmy, the big one, got slammed into the side of it to see what would happen.”

“Why were you so idiotic to do that?! Not only is your pay dependent on the function of this windmill, but your very health of this settlement is dependent upon the usage of this windmill. And where the heck did did you get the sledgehammer from?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“Get out of here so I can get to work. You’re lucky that I’m not telling the Sheriff of this. You could very well get jail time for this if you do it again.” Austeyn hoped that it was worth the intimidation and they wouldn’t call out his bluff on that. They were too young to be arrested and would most likely be punished by their parents. He got the measurements of the turnshaft and returned to the workshop where he began to make a new turnshaft. It was tedious task to make one, taking most of the day. It was only at supper time that it was finally finished and taken to the mill for a builder to hoist up and reinstall it. He still had no idea where the little boys had found a sledgehammer at. Although it wasn’t all that obvious at first to him at first but the way the wood had been damaged, it was clear that it had been an intentional act of sabotage. Something wasn’t right here...

With supper time, it was time to call it a day and head home. On the way back home, the town square came into view again, this time, the gallows were taken down and the body was nowhere to be seen, The decay must have finally set in and the putrid smell became too much for people passing by. Things suddenly became a lot better in Austeyn’s eyes. Down Cook’s Street, he picked out the supper that he would have that night: Wild Game Stew. The stew was an interesting mix of flavor. With a combination of three meats, bear, venison, and rabbit, cut up into small chunks and stewed together with various vegetables and edible mushrooms. It was filling, although it could use something else in it, maybe there was a different plant of fruit that could be added to it that would add onto it. He had conversations with other people eating meals, getting the latest news and a little gossip. Something interesting had caught is ear. There was a gamekeeper that was in charge of managing the hunting and wildlife management. He had noticed tracks that didn’t trace back to the town. This was a cause for concern for the gamekeeper and the soon to be declared Eral. They might have to be on the defensive even more, or they should have gone further away from people.

One he had finished the meal, he finally finished the trip to lie down and rest, only to repeat the same process tomorrow, It was not a bad life, it was just tedious that made one’s muscles sore. You’d get used to it though, It was just another fact of life. Somewhat peacefully, Austeyn finally slipped into sleep.

And that’s when it all went to Hell.

It must have been midnight or so, something around that time, and things were all but normal. The sounds of men yelling, weapons clanging, and arrows flying turned the once peaceful night into a battlefield. Not even before he rose up from the basic bed, a spherical rock flew right through his home’s wall, the same spot that had been fixed earlier that day. Quickly getting his clothes back on, he steps out the door to see Men-At-Arms ransacking the town, setting buildings on fire, stabbing people at random, both stabbing and setting people on fire. It WAS a hideous sight to behold. The armory,,, he needed to get to the armory. Rushing down chaotic streets and sneaking down back allies to make it to the armory where he could find some armor or maybe a weapon to use, and he did. The building being rushed by other civilians for something to fight with, was rapidly being depleted by people desperate for a fighting chance other than using magic. Magic needs concentration for it to effectively be used weaponized or not, a physical weapon could be used in almost any situation. The English Longbow and a full quiver of arrows was Austeyn was Austeyn’s choice of weapon for one reason alone-- The Bodkin Point. Arrows significantly more deadly because of it’s armor piercing ability through chainmail at range and plate armor close up. He ran back out of the building, deciding that armor wasn’t worth fighting other people for, and the time that it would take for him to equip the armor.

The night sky was ablaze with the embers of hard work being reduced to ash. Fighting ensued at the town square, where swords and shields clanged together with a prominent metallic sound. Taking an arrow from the quiver and notching in in the longbow, he prepares himself for something that he didn’t want to do but was forced to--Kill another person. And it wouldn’t take long before he’d have to. A man-at-arms had taken notice of his presence and with that began to charge.Austeyn drew back the bowstring with the arrow, hesitating at losing the arrow into this other person had no hatred for. But this man-at-arms hated him, with a running charge with a sword in his hand being evident of it. With his breath held and loosed the arrow. The bodkin point at that rage burrowed through the surcoat and chainmail armor and slicing into the man’s chest. It wasn’t long later until he had dropped never to move again.

It was a losing battle however, warriors were one thing but soldiers are different. The town had to be abandoned and survivors regrouped to find maybe another place to live with the light of fires burning the town down to find their initial route out into the woods…

Reed, Catrin, and Austeyn had all miraculous survived and had taken refuge in a cave, only lit by either channeled magical power or light of a pitch torch or both. They were under the impression that they would explore further down the cave; there was nothing in the way of stopping them and it’s not like they had anything else to do. Deeper in the cave opened up into a chamber, with a giant crystal in the center emitting a glow that illuminated the chamber and a subterranean pond. Thirsty, they gulped down the surprisingly clean substance, feeling immediately recovered. This was a magical spring no doubt about it, the source was next to be investigated. The Trio waded at knee depth through the spring and approached it with curiosity. Reluctant to touch it, not knowing what kind of power it contained. Reed was the one that finally touched it. His being began to and dematerialize. Unintentionally, Catrin and Austeyn had grazed the crystal too, sharing the same fate.

All three re-materialize in what appeared to be the same place as before, this time not wanting to stay in the cave with something that they possibly couldn’t understand with any reasonable time. All of them rushed out of the cave with hasted with what little items in their possession. When they exited the cave, it was daytime out and the complete opposite of what they were expecting. Flowers were blooming and leaves on trees. It was springtime here. Catrin caught something out the corner of here eye and turned to face it. The cave opening was at the peek of what could be described as either a large hill or small mountain. Down below lie a city of unseen proportions. Massive stone walls adorned with ballistas and a tower behind the walls so large, not even the top of it could be seen.

With an overwhelming sense of astonishment, Austeyn finally voices in a hushed voice. “This is not England.”