Chapter 22
As Samuel started fell more and more into his ‘old’ routines, he quickly lost track of the days that went by. He'd wake up in the mornings to practice his sword and dagger skills, followed by a somewhat burnt breakfast made by Katherine, watching over the girl’s studies while accepting townsfolk seeking cures or tonics, a bountiful lunch made by Sarah... spent the afternoons either doing somewhat-necessary chores or looking after more townsfolk, then a dinner at his aunt and uncle’s or at his house… to which the older, taller, and much more womanly of his two cousins would typically spend the night…
It wasn’t that he was developing any deep feelings for her, much to Sarah’s chagrin, more that their sexual experiences were the only damned thing that provided any sense of excitement. And she was passionate during their times together. So. Very. Passionate. She wouldn’t allow him to fall asleep before mid-night, and would wake him up early enough to get another round in before her sister arrived in the morning. However, Katie’s infrequent schedule meant that she had often caught the sounds of their dawn-breaking sessions.
Unfortunately, the memories he had lost remained that way. There were no sudden realizations or reminiscences, only the same feelings that he’d had during his first day at his home. The tickling anxieties that made him want to flee. The small fire of anger that burned in his gut. The odd excitement that he got when he thought of making curatives from his stock of plants and herbs. And the mind-numbing sense of boredom that punctuated all of the minutes that he wasn’t in bed with Sarah…
After a full week of watching her teacher pace back and forth without anything to do, Katherine sent him on a hunting expedition into the Duke’s forest. He brought back two wild boars and a ten-point buck. The following weekend it was a doe, and another buck, this time a twelve-point. The third weekend he found guardsmen patrolling the woods, but still managed to kill a pair of boars before disappearing back to his home with his pilfered meats.
With the dull days dragging on and on, approaching ever closer to the harvest, the lean apothecary was ever so slowly relaxing into small-town life. The denizens of Serenity Valley proved to be friendly, honest, caring, and generally just really sweet folks to get to know. Even though it pained him to think that he’d most-likely be spending the rest of his days in the same damned spot, he couldn’t have a nicer group of seventy-three people to share them with. And, perhaps… in time… he might make an honest woman out of Sarah… so why was it that now, in the middle of the bloody night, someone was thumping down his front hallway and screaming his name?
“FINNIGAN!! WAKE UP, SON!! HURRY!”
Pulling himself up to a sitting position as Sarah busily flicks a lighter to fire-up a small oil lamp at their bed-side, Samuel pushes his long locks over the top of his head and peers through the darkness as the hulking form of his late-wife’s father rounds the corner, dressed in nothing but a long sleeping-gown. “G-Gus?! The Hell?”
“Son! Come on, boy! Get up! We’ve got to GO!” August, Gus, Shuemaeker rushes over to the foot of his son-in-law’s bed as he thrusts a finger in the direction of the village. “T-there’s a MONSTER! I-in the TOWN! We’ve got to get OUT of HERE!”
Feeling his heart skip several beats as an image of a Gluttonous Daemon readily springs to his mind, the wiry swordsman slides quickly out of his bed and rushes to throw open a wardrobe as his cousin finally succeeds in creating a source of light. “Oh, shite… o-okay… Gus, go ‘round back, get that bloody mare out of her stall and hook her up to the wagon!” As he snatches a pair of loose pants from a peg, he silently thanks the Trinity of Goddesses for allowing him the foresight to store all of his combat-gear in the bedroom…
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Aegis and Order: First Light
Fantasy"It’s shoulders were wide and powerful. At four metres in height, it was almost as large across as it was tall. The arms of the hulking beast hung nearly all the way to the ground, and were thick with rope-like muscles that bulged with even the sl...
