Patricia Moore
Stories
14
Chapters
5,808
Words
3.9 M
Comments
0
Reading
13 d, 9 h
-
Dominus had taken him up higher into the mountain forest and set him loose on one of the many trails. This one had been completely unbreeched and vegetation barred it as strongly as iron-barred prison doors. He'd been made to go through it by himself, with no one to break it down for him, and he'd been made to do it as fast as he could. So it was through a ridiculous thorny mess of stringy vegetation that he'd charged, before being hit with a steep gravelly hill, that offered no grip for him to launch…-
479 •
-
-
Beam bit his lip and began, feeling re-energized by his master's words. He brought the stone towards him, wrapped his arms around it and brought it up to his lap, just as he had done with the second one. He finished it the same way – by lifting it up to his chest and dropping it once his master gave the signal. One lift. Beam let out a breath to steady himself. It was heavier than the second stone, that much was obvious. But it moved. It had moved without him needing to give everything he had. The…
-
479 •
-
-
Beam's eyes lit up with excitement at the mention of stones. He was growing more and more fond of the movement, even though it left him exhausted every time. It was just so exciting to see himself progress so quickly, and every time he lifted them, he seemed to set a new record. With those records came a feeling of invincibility – although short lasting – as though he could go anywhere and achieve anything. It was an addictive feeling. Beam didn't need to be told twice. Though he hadn't eaten…
-
479 •
-
-
"…Good," Dominus said in a rare compliment. "You have two things going for you at the moment – your strength is improving rapidly and it seems the basics of martial arts come naturally to you too. Now, a kick." This time Beam didn't make the mistake of scampering to ready himself. As soon as Dominus lifted his hand high in the air as a target, Beam leapt up, kicking up above his head and striking the target down. He felt an unbelievable amount of satisfaction as he landed, pleased by his own…
-
479 •
-
-
She smiled at him again as she waved goodbye. "Keep fighting, Beam," she said. He sighed as she left, as though it had been an inconvenience, but he could not deny that he felt just a little bit warmer for her concern. He felt bad to have worried her. As he planned, he went to meet Loz. The foreman was similarly forgiving. "I heard about your house, lad. That's a rough business that is. Don't you worry about missing a bit of work – the job will always be waiting for you to come back to. I'll…
-
479 •
-
-
"Ah…" She caught herself merely staring at him without having yet given him a reply. "We have bandages if you need them…" She said carefully, seeing the wounds on his face. Oddly, merely from hearing the sound of his voice, a barrier had already broken, and she couldn't help but see in him the same things she had seen in her own children. The same humanity and the same propensity for suffering. She was normally kind-hearted at the best of times, but even she didn't know quite why she offered to help a…
-
479 •
-
-
"Boys!" She called out, fighting to keep the urgency out of her voice. "Boys! Come on in and get a drink. Come on! Quickly!" Beam averted his gaze, embarrassed. That interaction stung his heart more than being simply ignored did. "Tsch…" He tutted to himself, taking a glance down at his clothing. "Do I really look that bad?" And yes, indeed, he did look that bad. He looked like a corpse that had just gotten up off a battlefield and was about to spread death to the world. More than that though, it…
-
479 •
-
-
Beam widened his eyes in terror and quickly hurried on his way. As he walked further into town, more houses came into view. Thatched roofs and stone walls for the majority. Some white-washed, some with an abundance of wooden beams amongst the stonework, giving them support and style. The majority of the houses were small one-story round houses, with just enough room for a small family and a crude chimney for the smoke at the very top. Others were more modern, though much fewer in number. They were…
-
479 •
-
-
"This sucks," he complained, running a hand through his short hair, getting it out of his eyes. With the cut on his face and the blood on his nose, he had no doubt that he would be getting quite a few funny looks if he went into town. But he shrugged at the thought. 'What do I care?' He used the sleeve of his dirty oversized shirt to wipe the worst of the filth and blood away from his face – not that it did much good – and he patted his trousers a few times, as though that would do anything to rid…
-
479 •
-
-
"Tsch, is that it? Already hunching up like a damn turtle?" Judas came strutting over to get his share of the torture in. He wound up his massive leg and booted Beam in the stomach with all the force he could muster. Beam clumsily attempted to time a small jump off his hands with the kick, so that when the kick landed, he went flying. He rolled over himself two times, then three times, then four, before his back hit a tree and he came to a stop. Because of his little jump, the kick looked far harder…
-
479 •
-
- Previous 1 … 578 579 580 581 Next