NOVEL NEXT Chapter 56: Inheritance. Part 1.5.
Hey, hey!
Welcome back to the gHerencia. Parte 1.5.ates of Enverdolmal!
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I won't keep you with more mushy stuff lol
I will see you all back here at the gates soon enough.
I present to you: "Inheritance. Part 1.5."
Enjoy.
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Dunda sat in silence in the back of what was left of the battered wooden wagon.
His eyes were glued to his hands.
His right leg twitched and spasmed, his nerves raw and on end.
His mind reeling, filled as it was with all of the events that had transpired within the past tenday or so.
It had been quite the trip thus far, to say the least, and now before him loomed the entrance to his final destination.
His future.
The start of his new life.
The ebony-steel gates of the world-renowned educational center known as Garth Verlore.
Sir Ivin had patiently and kindly briefed him on some of the things that he should expect to see on and about the grounds upon their arrival.
He spoke in short order about all of the 5 houses and their specializations.
Of flying things that should not fly and moving things that should not move.
The likes.
He broke down several of the class structures, different Teaching styles, and an unimaginably long list of courses that he could choose from outside of his prerequisites.
Dunda didn't think that he would be able to retain much of if any of what he had heard…
It wasn't that he couldn't, nor that he didn't want to.
It was more so that so very much had happened and changed in his life, and in such a small window of time, that he was struggling to keep his mind focused on anything in particular.
His mind kept taking him back.
Back to that house.
That room.
Those people.
But his body was here.
Dozens if not hundreds of miles from Gren.
He didn't know how far they had traveled.
He was free…
Really, really free.
No more of his terrible uncle and his devilish wife.
No more being fed just barely enough to sustain himself daily.
No more sleeping on the cold, hard, multi-layered mat on the floor that was his "bed"
No more punching in at sunrise and heading home by sundown.
He was his own person now.
He was really and truly free.
Sir Ivin had been the best and most understanding mentor and Knight Instructor that the boy could have ever dreamed of thus far.
The tall, regal Elf was calm, collected, and unshakable in his resolve.
His was a sort of infectious confidence.
So much so that the boy could feel it began to rub off on him the longer the two were together.
But it would take a lot more time and exposure to see any real change in that regard.
Dunda felt for some reason that he could let himself be vulnerable around someone for once in his life.
It was a foreign and scary feeling, but it sure did take some weight off of his considerably young shoulders.
He had broken down and found himself in tears several times in the past two weeks.
Episodes that he was not very proud of in the least…
At just 16 HLS, he was young even by Dwarfym standards -just 5 years old- and didn't understand the complex range of emotions that had very suddenly begun to dance around in his head and heart.
Sir Ivin had been like a large and unmoving stone in a river of near-constant shifts.
He felt as if he owed Sir Ivin more than the Elf could ever know.
His warm and welcoming demeanor had been rather off-putting to Dunda at first, as he had spent most of his life thus far in an environment that was not particularly fond of either his emotions or opinion.
He would be sure to repay this kindness somehow, someday.
The relationship that the two had built had done the boy's mental state much good.
Good that was sorely needed after the hectic exit that they had been forced to make…
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14 Days earlier.
Dunda had lied to himself.
For the first and last time.
He had told himself that if ever given the chance to leave, he would do so and never look back.
He had looked back…
He hadn't meant to.
He had taken Sir Ivin's hand.
He had walked through the open door, its frame splintered and cracked.
He had made his way across the damp grass and to the far-to-fancy wagon that would carry him North and East to the grand gates of Garth Verlore.
To a place that was not here.
Not cold and unwelcoming.
Not gray and detached.
A place like all of the places that he had seen only in his dreams…
Dunda paused,
Sir Ivin took several more steps before he turned on one foot and bent at the waist to look Dunda squarely in the eyes.
"Say your goodbyes now child, for this is no place for you…Your future awaits you, and this (the Elf gestured about the two of them with his free left hand) was just an inconsequential chapter of your grand tale."
His words were not without warmth, yet they still stung Dunda.
He pulled his hand from that of the Knight and turned on instinct to hide the tears that suddenly burned on the edge of his vision.
He hated it here…
The constant stench of fish in the air that also lingered in his clothes.
The long, hard days that nearly broke him.
The nearly emotionless existence that he had learned to live with…
But it was still his home.
The only home that he had ever known.
His shoulders bounced and shuddered slightly as he found himself suddenly overcome with a deep and profound sense of grief.
He had to let go.
It was time.
He has waited for and prayed for this day.
This moment.
He had prayed to THEM.
His mother…
His father…
They had wanted this for him.
They had always wanted the best for him.
He wished they were there now to see him off.
To see him go be something…anything more.
He reached up and rubbed his eyes with his sleeve, his vision cleared just enough for him to be able to see the base of his house through the tear-induced blur.
He slowly lifted his head to have one last look at the place.
One last glance to lock into his memory before he let the rest of this world fade away forever.
As he looked up, he froze.
His stomach instantly felt as if it was filled with fist-sized stones.
His feet felt like ship anchors.
His forehead broke out with beads of sweat.
Before him and beneath the broken doorway stood Urik,
His uncle…
His mean, dictatorial, abusive, greedy, insufferable uncle…
His left arm cradled his right, that which had been bent and broken not long ago by Sir Ivin.
His right hand grasped the knife that he had attempted to run Sir Ivin through with.
Blood caked his forehead, face, and neck.
His right eye was black and puffy from when he had slammed into the wall.
The battered man took a single step forward, tears welling in his eyes as he slowly lifted his one good arm, pointing the quivering blade toward the stunned and horrified boy.
"D..Dunda…don't do this!"
He begged pitifully, ignoring the Elven Knight altogether.
"I am your uncle! We are your only family!"
He spat, venom creeping into his shaking voice.
Another step forward he stumbled.
Dunda's heart was racing.
He didn't know what to think.
What to feel.
He knew only that he wanted to leave.
To never return to that dark, damp room at the back of that house.
To never again have to work the dangerous docks daily until he was sore and exhausted.
He knew that he would never let anyone beat him or demean him ever again.
Dunda took a step towards his uncle.
Urik beamed, or tired too.
His swollen and puffed facial muscles wouldn't allow him to produce the proper and intended results.
His smile appeared as more of a sneer.
He took another step forward, reaching for Dunda, stumbling on weak legs.
The knife slipped from his hand and landed with a soft thud in the damp grass at his feet.
"Yes…YES!"
He said, the words tumbled from his plump, split lips.
"I...I know that your Aunt and I have been…hard on you my boy, but it was naught but tough love! Always only love boy! Tough love just as your father would have wanted, yeah?"
Another shambling step.
He tripped on a tuft of grass and fell forward.
Dunda sprinted forward against his better judgment, nay against every fiber within him that screamed at him not to act, and caught the battered man.
Urik hugged him with his one good arm.
Strangely, Dunda found himself hugging the man back.
It wasn't that he cared…he just didn't care to watch him fall flat on his face.
Not just yet.
Urik coughed, bright and hot blood spattered Dunda's shoulder.
A broken rib or two no doubt.
The man squeezed as tightly as his wounds would allow, embracing the boy for the first time in 16 years…
Before making one last mistake.
Before he spoke one last line.
Something that he would have been better off keeping in his head.
"…Just as your mother would have wanted…"
The words echoed in Dunda's ears…
The world around him shrank away until there was just himself and the man before him.
His mother?
How dare he?
HOW DARE HE!?
Dunda began to shake.
To tremble.
Emotions flooded him.
Anger.
Sadness.
Memories of the long, cold, lonely nights with no blanket. Shivers and drafts keeping him awake when the hunger and pain did not…
Bitterness.
Confusion.
Memories of cracked and chipped plates with but scraps of food, the clawing hunger keeping him awake when the cold or pain did not…
Rage slowly began to build up.
A combination of all of what the boy felt.
What he thought.
The stupid boat.
The stupid docks.
The stupid fields.
His stupid Uncle.
His stupid Uncle's equally stupid wife.
Dunda saw red.
He lost control of himself…
His emotions, so suppressed as they had been, suddenly burst forth, taking action how he never could.
Behind Urik's back, Dunda's right hand clamped onto his left wrist and his muscles bulged.
He heard his uncle gasp and whimper as he began to squeeze, his inherent Dwarven strength began to awaken.
The man wiggled and squirmed in a futile attempt to escape the iron-like bear hug that he very suddenly found himself in. His feet slowly left the ground. His ribs began to bend as his arms were forced against his abdomen more and more with each passing second.
With each labored breath that he took.
He dared to risk some of the precious little air that he could draw to attempt to appeal to the boy in one last desperate plea.
"B..boy! Don't …do…this. Please…not like…thissssssssssss."
He wheezed. His eyes rolled back.
Dunda could feel the man's body start to go limp in his arms.
He hesitated.
Urik was right.
For once.
It would not go like this. He wouldn't let himself follow his uncle's ruthless, cruel footsteps.
He wouldn't do something that he could not undo.
His grip relaxed just a bit.
He felt Urik relax as well.
Good…
The boy pulled back just enough to make direct eye contact with the pathetic man.
"For my Father."
He said.
His head shot forward, his forehead smashing into the nose of the man that he held in his arms.
Urik's head snapped backward, the viscous headbutt breaking his already crooked nose.
Dunda let go of his uncle for a split second.
He stepped back, positioned his legs, then reached up and grabbed Urik by the shoulders.
His right knee shot up, catching the falling man in the groin at full force.
"For my Mother."
Dunda spat through clenched teeth.
He stepped forward, letting the dazed and positioned Urik collapse into his arms once again.
He spread his legs and clamped the man in a bear hug once more.
"For me…"
He said, almost in a whisper.
Hot tears once again blurred his vision.
He squeezed.
He bent his knees.
The muscles in his back snapped taught.
He flexed backward, pulling Urik up and over himself into a powerful suplex.
Urik was unconscious before the impact.
That was probably for the best.
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Hey and welcome back to the gates!
I hope this latest chapter is enough to hold you all over till next we meet!
I love you all!
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I will see you all back here soon enough folks, thank you kindly for your continued support and loyalty!
Safe travels my friends.
And as always:
Stay safe.
Stay healthy.
Stay vigilant.
-Redd.