The Last Human

Who? (Part 5)

Section 12:

     Another day. The last one ended in a stand-still, no one sure of what to say or do when peace had once again fallen over the village. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE was shaken up. A few of the adult villagers even began comparing with one another the incident of last night to the raid that had killed my parents. It was.. not fun to listen to, especially when they were brought up as some of the only casualties of that distant event. Other than little conversations here and there, the village was nearly silent. Work continued though, as it always did.

     Drake went back to brewing potions/crafting/enchanting/map making/bow weaving/well, whatever he wanted to do. Hokeson went back to crafting weapons again, except this time hammering away at his work like there was a time limit or something. Tabby was back to working in the library with her cat Sniffles. And.. I had no lead so far on my case against the human. It was hard thinking in such a time, much less thinking about someone else's wrongs, when you have your own to worry about. I sighed. Maybe it was finally time to dip my toe into the other side of the argument.

     I slowly began walking into the familiar direction of home, but instead of turning to the house I always stayed in, I stepped up to Hokeson's front door, absent mindedly looking up at the sign with the strange text written on it. Through the door, I could hear him still hammering away, iron on iron. I knocked on the door. There was a sudden silence. Then, the front door opened, and I looked up to see Hokeson's one eye looking down on me, a dark, tired look to it.

     "Oh.. Tim? What are you doing here?" He asked. I stared up and blinked at him a couple times. He was often so awake, it was new seeing him this tired all of a sudden.

     "I, um. Well.. I have a couple questions to ask you about the human- for the debate.. Would you mind..-?"

     "Of course. Come on inside. It is pretty snug though. You can sit on the opposite bed." He invited me inside. As he had said, the house was pretty small; all it was were two beds along either wall, and Hokeson's tool-making-thing in between.. WHAT?! I hadn't ever been interested in making weapons anyways, so why learn what they're called?! AmIright?!.. I sat down on the opposite bed as Hokeson plopped onto his own across from me, glad inside that he could finally take a break and sit down for a bit. "So.. what do you want to know about?" He suggested I begain.

     "Um," I paused for a moment, trying to think of the best question to start with, "I would like to know why you are such a big fan of the human."

     "Oh. That. Pretty simple, actually. He pretty much raised me."

     "...Wait what?"

     "Yeah, I used to be in the same situation as you, except that was before; when he didn't constantly move on from one job to the next.. Did you know he created the library from scratch?- Yep! I watched him build the entire building from the ground all the way to the small tower on top.- Did you know he also built the entire schoolhouse to begin with?! You probably wouldn't even have your classes without-"

     "Okay, okay, okay! One thing at a time please." I just had to interrupt him. Any more and I felt as if my brain might explode. I thought I had overheard some of that stuff, but it was older news I had never really paid attention to before. ..It was weird thinking about all that, now. "Um, do you think you can start at the beginning? Like, how did you even meet the human?"

     A long thinking pause, then, "I was but a young villager when the human first appeared in our village. He was certainly a stranger, with the strength to chop down trees all on his own, and create objects we had never even imagined was possible. His abilities seemed endless: even able to take down hordes of monsters when night struck, all on his own... I grew up believing he was invincible. ... But, one night we learned this was not the case. It was so long ago, and I was still so young, but I can remember the fear; the screams, as if it were only a couple days ago... The monsters rose from the river. They attacked from all sides, even from within caves in the very center of the village. It was a nightmare, and the human could not handle it all by himself. So, he created our first iron golem. Then another; and another. With their help, we were able to survive the night. Well, not all of us. My parents were a few of the many casualties. This took a big toll on everyone, even the human. I know no one here seems to think he has emotions like we do.. but I remember vividly the look on his face. His eyes looked wet and his mind momentarily clouded. From that moment forward, he made a silent vow to make sure that never happened again..