Monster

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Six days earlier

Disturbed by the conversation between the elders and grandfather Grake, Rangil left the house to take a deep breath of air. With dismay, he looked at his messy front yard, where many tables stood laden with unfinished food, drinks, and there were upturned chairs on the ground.

He needed to clean all of this up before it got dark tonight.

"Uncle? Do you want us to help?" He heard the older child's voice and turned around. Both of elder Jalil's children were peeking from Hero's barn with concerned faces at him. Taking a look around in hopes of seeing either Margol or Tnul also here to help with the chores, but not seeing either of them, Rangil sighed.

"If you can help me carry all the remaining food to one table, I would appreciate it." Rangil said tightly, uncomfortable with telling these children what to do. It had been their atta's decision to help him in any chores that he might have for them, however. He was certainly not going to ignore that help, considering all the work that he would still have to do tonight.

For a few minutes, he and the children worked, helping him carry the plates, pots, and pans to the table nearest to the house. Even little Hero helped, belying Rangil's earlier words that he was useless, which made him feel even more guilty.

Giving the barn a look, Rangil hesitated, greatly tempted to let the strange child to return back to his own room, where his bed still stood now, ready and empty.

"Good job, kari." Elder Haren's voice distracted him and he turned to see the elder leaving his house. Seeing Rangil looking at him, the elder nodded with approval to the children helping Rangil clean up.

"I wish our children were so well behaved as these." He humphed and just then saw little Hero carefully carrying several dirty plates to the two large wash basins that Rangil had set up with clean towels nearby. Seeing him, the elder smiled and also took a look around. Not seeing Margol or Tnul, he repeated Rangil's sigh.

"I'm going to send some of our younger villagers to help you. You will never finish before dark." He told Rangil, but the villager quickly shook his head.

"No need. I and Grake will manage. Besides, we got good helpers." He looked with approval at the children and smiled at them all, including Hero, who immediately perked up and shyly grinned back.

Elder Haren chuckled and nodded. "Very well. If I see Margol and Tnul, I'll send them to you. Take care."

Nodding to him in farewell, the eldest of villagers of their village began to hobble away, still spry despite his silver eyebrows and bent back. Forty eight years old! Even grandpa Grake wasn't that old. And he remembered almost twenty six of his previous life-times by now...

Rangil respectfully watched him leave, wondering how old he might live himself and whether he would remember anything from his own past. He often tried, but could only get flashes, where he would see his brother, Beor, laughing or smiling as he worked with him in an unfamiliar settings. Sometimes, he saw another villager, too, his eyes stern and his smile more reserved. Could it be their atta in their previous life? Rangil wondered what happened to him and why didn't they respawn in a proper family as they did last time. In this lifetime, it had been great-grandpa Bart who raised them and many other young villagers, too. For some reason, they all appeared here without a blessing. The elders thought of that time that something terrible had happened to the villages where they were supposed to spawn or maybe that the villages ceased to be? A fire, or attacking Humans, or some sort of other natural calamity. They were not certain.

Elder Jalil might know more about this. Didn't they also have suddenly a lot of children appear in their village, also? Their village in Jarovsk grew in population from 14 families to almost 60 in just a few years that passed right around the time that Beor and then Rangil himself spawned.