Joss understood from Vash’s reaction, that they had unfortunately stumbled upon  mudsnapper territory. So he yelled to his dinosaur, “Vash! Find us a safe-route out of here! Hurry!”. While Vash went around them in a circle to poke the mud for unpleasant surprises; Joss was trying to help William fend of the hungry flapjack. 

It stared at him… Waiting for its prey to choose a direction its mouth should leap at. It was quite eerie as one wrong move could lead to a fatal wound. The longer he stared back at it, there seemed to poke more eyes out of the mud. It was only then that William noticed that something had gone missing in the commotion. He asked startled, “Where in god’s bleeding arm is the deer and the…!?”.

He stopped himself mid-sentence, as he saw the remains of the deer’s toes disappear into the mud. A few air bubbles escaped what must have been a bottomless pit. This sight captivated both siblings. “It’s as I said… They never come alone!”, Joss warned. *SKRAAA!*, Vash let out a long and piercing call. She had found their path out. So they ran and left that unpleasant scene behind them.

When they finally stopped their retreat, they found themselves high up at the top of a slope. This 20 meter high slope led down to a bustling river. From where they stood there was no beginning nor end of this silvery snake. It was etched deep into the ground, leaving around it only the steepest of slopes and hills, decorated by wild bushes and thorny vines.

It was one of nature’s marvels…

William had his pulse thundering in his wrists. He was so exhausted from the run that his sword seemed to weigh twice its original amount… Not that it was unbearably heavy but it was made for an adult and not a child. He was supposed to grow into it, after all…

William sheathed his sword and said with some regret, “Are you sure, that we couldn’t have killed them all for some meat back there?.. Not to say that it wouldn’t have been challenging and a bit dangerous… But still? I’d hate to return empty handed and with no experience in using this thing”. His hand slid across the sword’s scabbard.

Joss took in the stunning view of the riverside as he panted his breath back to normal. Then he answered, “When we hunt, we do not, and I repeat! Do not, want to become the hunted!.. I’m telling you! If we had stayed we would have likely been ambushed by more of those mudsnappers… I’ve seen them do it before… First they latch on to you and try their best to make you stumble and lose your balance… Then as if they came spawning from the underworld of cursed beasts, they’ll overwhelm you until not a bit of flesh is left untouched!.. You do not want to mess with a mudsnapper!”.

William twitched an eye as he commented, “And this is why people live in castles I suppose… How the heck do people survive out in the woods with creatures such as these!?”. Joss gulped with thirst as he eyed the river’s pure water. Then he said, “Usually they don’t… Unless you’re a bonded or work in a larger group that has experience, you won’t be able to survive in these woods”.

This was a fact… The wildlife that surrounded the small civilisations, became a restriction that held a lot of people back from living a individualistic lifestyle… People needed each other. Especially for their survival against nature’s competitors. Those who left this community of survivors behind were seen as either crazy-strong or suicidal.

William noticed that Joss was looking at the water with longing. So he asked, “Why don’t you go down and fetch some? Although you might get stung... I’m sure it's nice and cool?”. To this Joss smiled wryly and replied, “Sure? Why don’t I scale these insane slopes and get a drink, while my body gets flushed away into the ocean?”. William checked his own wineskin for water. There was still some left.

Then he reached his wineskin out for Joss to grab; “Then here! Take my water…”. Joss shied away from looking at William, as he felt a bit guilty but nonetheless took the strange bottle.

After some time they both sat down to admire the sparkling river.

Joss slurped some of the now lukewarm water, before he explained, “It’s called the Peaktears Run… It’s almost more lethal than the mudsnappers back there… I’ve heard tales of unfortunate folk who accidentally fell into it… Legend says that Peaktears Run leads all the way out into the ocean and once you’re in it there’s no way out. You’ll have to bend to its ways and follow it to the end… It might look calm from up here, but further down you’ll encounter multiple rapids and cascades... It’s not to be trifled with”.

William felt the mud on his skin crack. It had dried up to a crisp overlay. He had to confess that he hadn’t expected to run into one life threatening ordeal after the other. This world truly was something on its own… Incredible dangerous that is… Maybe, just maybe, it would be for the best if he stayed in the castle and practiced for himself a little while longer… It couldn’t hurt, now could it?..

****

If there was one thing William hated, it was carrying Brice’s armour back and forth. This thing was bulgy and always wanted to slide all over the place. When he could finally set it down in the castle’s armoury, he noticed that he was not alone but in the company of another servant. He seemed to be carrying out a funeral for a well-used helmet and a cuirass that had two holes in it. William found it rather wasteful to dispose of these items, so he went up to the servant and tried his luck, “Erh… A-... Adam right?.. If I might ask, are you going to throw those pieces of armour away?”.

This supposed Adam, glanced at William with disgust in his eyes. Then he snarked back, “... And what of it?.. little Mylla”. William mumbled in protest, “My name isn’t Mylla…”. The servant looked at him with a sarcastic mug and said, “And mine isn’t Adam… It’s Axel, you stupid cow!”.

Wow! Even though they were the only ones in this room, William had not expected this servant to act out and speak to him in such uncouth language. But instead of stooping down to Axel’s level and start a war of abusive name calling, he ignored his remark and said, “Ah, Axel, right… What are you doing with that armour? Perhaps you’re preparing to throw it away?”.

Axel frowned further but didn’t know what to respond. Thus William took the initiative and pointed at the armour he was in possession of; “How about I dispose of those for you? For it’s as they say, any scrapped metal needs to be handed over to the blacksmith”. This was a quick lie on William’s behalf, but it sure did sound convincing. Axel glared at William for a while. Probably contemplating whether he should shove his work onto someone else. And he did. He handed over the trash that would soon become William’s treasure.

William felt immensely lucky, for this was exactly what he had wished for. A suitable disguise! Now just maybe, he could blend in with the others who used the training grounds. It was a place where blunt weapons were used for practice and wooden dummies were plenty. Of course women weren’t allowed there. It was for the use of young boys and men who trained to become knights…

Exactly why William wanted to practice there and not alone somewhere quiet, was because he knew that his sword would soon become worn and brittle, if he should use it on blunt items. Also if someone should see him with it, they would probably confiscate it or arrest him for possessing it. So getting to misuse the castle’s weapons was much more favorable.

With this helmet and cuirass, William should be able to hide who he is. The only thing he needed done to complete this disguise, was to make a counterfeit piece of clothing that will make him look like the other pages…

In the process of leaving, William didn’t notice the sour expression that still lingered on Axel’s face. Something had definitely ticked him off, but what exactly was unclear...