The Persecuted

Chapter 4

The winter turned out to be a harsh one. The first snowfall put down enough snow for it to be ankle high. The second one brought the layer of white to Adan's knees and the third one put it up to his chest. Venturing out into the woods to hunt for what ever animals remained became difficult and the two of them found themselves practically isolated in the little cabin.

But they had prepared well.

The cellar beneath the cabin was filled with potatoes, carrots and other goods that would last them well into spring and leave them with seed for the garden. The few times Gan went out to hunt and caught himself a deer or some larger animal were bright moments in the otherwise dark days. The benefit of winter was they could keep the meat for a longer time, ration it and not have to prepare it all in one go.

That left them with days and hours with little to do. They were but a few weeks into the winter when Gan proposed teaching him what he knew of fighting. Seeing as there was nothing else to do Adan agreed. The old man made a couple of practice swords out of wood and soon they were fencing each other in the middle of the cabin. As the dark months progressed so did Adan's skills. Gan taught him about fighting with knives, axes, swords – everything they could make up to practice with.

It was relatively light training, but with the combination of being fed properly and having exercise, Adan began to turn from a lanky boy into a young man that had muscle in his arms and tolerance for pain thanks to the many hits from Gan's practice sword.

It was the middle of winter when Gan finally started asking him questions.

“How old are you, boy?”

Adan wiped some sweat from his brow and put down the wooden sword. The fire kept the cabin warm enough and when you'd practised for a few hours you had more than your fair share of sweat coming out of your body.

Adan shrugged. “I don't know. Fourteen maybe?”

He'd never really thought about it. He'd had more important things to worry about. Like surviving and finding his next meal.

“About to be a man then,” said Gan. Sweat ran down his forehead. The training was doing him good as well though not as visibly as the younger man.

“I guess,” said Adan and walked over to the table. He grabbed a mug and gulped down some of the icy water. One of the benefits of winter. You could just step outside and grab yourself a mug full of snow and a moment later have a refreshing drink.

“What do you plan to do when spring comes?”

Adan gave the old man a glance. He hadn't thought about it yet. The small cabin was starting to feel like home and Gan wasn't bad company. He had plenty to teach him and any advantage he could gain in the world was welcome.

“I don't know,” he admitted and took another gulp of water before setting down the mug.

“You could stay here,” Gan offered. “I'm not getting any younger and could use the help of someone like you.”

Adan shook his head. “Staying put is not safe for me. Eventually, someone will see me and then I need to run. The more time you've spent somewhere the harder it is to leave it behind.”

“You're very pessimistic about the world.” Gan squinted as he looked at him.

“Can you blame me?” Adan asked.

The bearded man shook his head. “I suppose I can't.”

They dropped the conversation there and started practising again.

Days passed. The routine remained the same. The more time passed the more the two shared of themselves with each other. For Adan it was relieving to be finally able to tell someone of the hardships he'd endured in his life. At the same time it was sobering to hear Gan's story. He wasn't the only person in the world the Church had screwed over.