The Herald watched the boy on his goat until he was out of eye sight. He developed a plan to take another route through the forest so he may stop at the castle before meeting Munah by the stream, as promised. He mounted his horse wearing less clothes and carrying less baggage than when he came. He rode off into the forest making sure to go around the fire that had by now taken on a wild mind of its own. Tunnel vision on his destination, he did not have a chance to notice Semyaza jump out in front of his horse. Startled, the horse bucked and reared and threw the Herald on to the hard dirt. The horse took off in another direction, as the Watcher approached the now injured man. Straight faced with a tilted head, he stared at the feeble man that appeared to have fear hidden in his eyes. The Watcher waited a moment before asking "why… why do you challenge me?" Harold stammered a response of confusion. "I don't know what you mean? I don't challenge you. It looks like you are intimidating me at this time. I have no idea why my good sir". The herald began to creep backwards still on the ground. Semyaza moved towards the man with a grimacing smile on his face. He grabbed the Herald by the throat and lifted him into the sky as if the full grown man weighed a feather.
"You have one chance to explain yourself. Explain why you have been lying and hiding. Explain why you have been caring for the enemy no matter how young!?" Semyaza shut his eyes tightly and calmed his voice. "Explain to me 'sir' why you intend to make my plans conform to your own?" The anger in the Watcher's soul began to seep into his palm as his grip on the human's throat became tighter and tighter. The herald struggled to breath let alone be able to answer any questions.
"What's that?...I can't hear you" The Watcher brought the man, by the throat, closer to his ear as if he were trying to hear him speak.
"Oh well..that's too bad" Semyaza held the man back up towards the sky and squeezed his neck so hard the crushing of bones could be heard nearby. Still upset, Semyaza continued to squeeze and squeeze until the man's head was swollen near falling off. The watcher released his grip and watched the man fall to the ground with his neck dangling loosely like a wet noodle. Blood dripped from the eyes, ears, and nose of the corpse as Semyaza headed towards the town to make sure the child had perished.
Emunah rode for what felt like forever on the back of his friend Doe. Doe appeared to become tired as well, her pace slowed down signifigantly. Emunah had not reached the stream yet but he grew more and more tired as the night went on. It was too dark to tell where he was going so he was sure he probably took a wrong turn somewhere anyways. He decided he needed to focus on finding a safe place to sleep before he and his goat passed out in the open on the forest floor. !THUMP! Emunah dozed off and fell onto the forest floor before he knew what hit him. He shook himself awake as Doe stared at him sleepily. "I know girl, we need to rest soon." Emunah looked around himself and was able to barely make out a pile of boulders, seemingly stacked on top of each other like a hut. Two on the sides, and one on top like a roof. Such a strange way for the large heavy rocks to be positioned but he could not be picky with his current circumstance. Using the light from the moon and stars, he made his way into the cavity the rocks created. Somehow, there was even room for Doe. He crawled out of the space, took the bags off her and placed them into the back of the little space. Strategically these would be his pillows. Doe crawled in the space right after the child and they snuggled to sleep keeping each other warm.
Semyaza stormed through the remains of the town and cast everything, not melted down, onto the stone walls and floors. He created unnecessary debris as he released his anger for not being able to find the remains of the child. He took a deep breath, and decided it was best to calm down. "You know, even if he did escape the second fire, surely a boy with no materials, no sense of navigation, and no help will survive the woods. Maybe he will be eaten by a bear or wolf." He chuckled at this thought. "Young blood is the most rejuvenating, after all" he said out loud to himself. With that he decided to head back home, a job not well done but done at the least.
Emunah was woken up by the rise of the bright sun peeking through the trees. Doe was grazing the grasses near the small shelter the young boy had come across the night before. Emunah sat up and dug through the bags looking for some breakfast. "I probably should eat something before I keep looking for this stream river thing" he thought to himself as he took a bite of stale bread. A thought hit him and he began to dig feverishly through the bags. " oh no… he forgot to pack firewood." Emunah finished his bread and went to gather Doe so he can continue his journey. Emunah lost track of his main goal and began gathering firewood. He got plenty but it was far too late before he realized he no longer knew what "straight towards the stream" meant. He became distraught with the realization of being lost and in such a foreign place. He never traveled the forest alone, he always was with his mother and sometimes a few other family friends. Emunah found his way back to the rock sculpture he used for shelter and began to make a spot for a fire. As he built the fire he began to cry. Poor boy had been hit with so many things in life, the short time he had even been alive. What was to come of the child now? He struck a stone for a spark, and mid strike he broke down in a heavy sob. He was so deep in his sorrow he hadn't noticed Doe came up to try and lick his tears away. "No…stop" he said as he took an arm and gently nudged her away. The young child took a deep breath. "I am supposed to be a man now, why cant i stop crying like a baby?" He wiped what was left of his tears with his head to the sky. He said to himself "What I would give for a bit of luck right now" and that's when he noticed a dark cloud of smoke rising just above the trees. His first thought was maybe it was his town still reaping the flames of the night fire. But then he thought maybe, just maybe it wasn't. But what could it be if not? Emunah heard a rustling in the bushes around him. This snapped his attention back to the present moment. Scanning the area, he saw nothing. Soon he heard a growl that he could not identify which animal it belonged to. Full of fright, Emunah quickly packed up Doe, hopped on her back and took off in the direction of the smoke. "If it is my home didn't the Herald say the cloaked men were going to kill me?... well if this is what i'm heading towards, at least i will get to fight for my life and honor my manhood" Emunah thought intensely as he held onto Doe for dear life.
Days had passed and the poor boy and goat only appeared more lost in the wilderness. At this point they were running out of food due to Doe being caught eating out of the food bag. Doe did not appear to be phased by hunger, she was quite full actually considering how many days worth of food she ingested. Emunah on the other hand was beginning to feel those oh so familiar pains in his stomach again. "I wish one of those animals would come and attack me now, im so hungry i would probably eat it raw! Fur and all." he said out loud to himself. A part of him was relieved at the lack of wild animals attempting to pester or even eat him. My goodness he was hungry though.
Emunah knelt down and went to pick a few berries he had spotted in a nearby bush. 'BLEH!" He immediately spit the berry back out. It was wayy too bitter, "probably poisonous anyways" he thought to himself. Defeated and depleted of energy, the young child plopped down on the ground by his beloved goat. "This is all your fault ya know?" he said gently while stroking the goat's head. Suddenly the boy sneezed hard and shivered under his 2 layers of clothing. He realized the wind was not going to slow down so he decided to bundle up in an additional layer of clothing. He felt it was best to not waste firewood until it was a dire need. With a deep sigh, he thought to himself "if only I could see that smoke one more time! I bet I would find it. I will try so hard I simply HAVE to find where it's from." The child gazed up at the dreary cold sky, suddenly he happened to see that familiar black smoke cloud once again. He rubbed his eye hard to make sure he was not seeing things and looked back at the sky. Quickly he packed up Doe, and instead of riding her he led her by the reins running through the forest with all the might his little legs could muster. Constantly, he kept looking up at the sky to check he was heading closer to the smoke instead of away from it. At some point he began to grow tired and stopped a few times to catch his breath. Afraid he would not find the place before the smoke was put out, he hopped on Doe and rode her towards the smoke until he began to smell something. Nose in the air he sniffed long and hard and could not place what that smell was. It wasn't a pleasant smell, more like burning hair and flesh similar to the aftermath of the burning town. The boy's heart began to beat faster as fear and hesitation crept into him. He began to wonder if he truly was headed backwards toward his ghost town, but if so, what was he truly riding into? His death? The boy pondered as he rode on, until his thoughts were interrupted by a sound. "Could it be?... Yes, yes it is!" He thought hopefully. He was hearing the sound of singing in unison and some sort of chanting. The smell of the smoke from the fire filled his nostrils and he knew he had done it, he found his way to the smoke. Not only that, it was not his old home at all, but a village he had never seen before.