Chapter 1 - City of lights

  Soldier "General, i found another girl who was hiding in the woods nearby. She seems to be seriously wounded."

  General Dali "Oh. How could have these children survive i never knew the elites could miss them. Hurry and take them to the Juds city. Get the children to the medic soon."

  A few hours later in the Juds City.

  Nurse "There you go, you are all patched up, tell me if you feel any pain elsewhere."

  Jared "Thank you for looking after me and my brother"

  Nurse "You two were in better condition than the girl over there. She still hasn't waken up."

  Jared "Her name is Anna, she is same age as me. We rarely spoke but she is a very smart girl. Not as smart as me though."

  Nurse "Oh, so you do know her. Hopefully she wakes up soon. I think you all will be living in the orphanage from now on."

  Jared "What's orphanage? I don't want to live there. Me and my brother khal have to find our mother, those bad people probably took her. We can't stay here"

  General Dali enters through the hallway "You are passionate atleast. But I can't let you go. You will die in the wild. Do you have any money or a horse to make the journey to Kingdom of Hosam?"

  Silence in the room.

  General Dali "Probably not. I'll tell you what. Leave your brother Khal with the orphanage and you come with me to military camp, i need someone to pick swords and arrows after daily training. I'll pay you 2 gold dinar per month. That way you could save up to buy a horse and go find your mother."

  Jared hesitates but he knows the General won't let him go, so he agrees. That evening Jared left Khal with the orphanage and left for the military camp with General Dali.

  Military camp is located in the outskirts of city of Juds, it has a few 2 story buildings as quarters for military. Jared was given a bed in one of the quarters. He soon realized that he was the youngest one here. Kids below 10 are not allowed to train with the military. Jared is easy going and quickly makes friends with some soldiers. Two days after watching the training, Jared realizes that he is indeed very weak and frail and would need to train himself in order to find his mother. So he begins in practice in private. He doesn't have a mentor just yet. But asks for pointers from his Soldier friends. They tell him that in order to become strong he needs to grow, therefore he needs to exercise but no heavy lifting.

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  Jared starts his day now by having a breakfast at the camp, then he goes observes the morning training and he is told to collect the arrows and spears and clean the place. In the afternoon he visits his brother Khal who is happy to see him.

  They spend some time together. Jared comes to know that Anna still hasn't awoken and he is worried for her. As Khal and Anna are the only two people he knows well.

  There are about a dozen children in the orphanage. Khal is playful and quickly settled in. Seeing that Jared relaxes. Jared "Khal i promise that I'll get strong very soon and bring mom back, till then be a good boy and stay here. Make many friends"

  Khal "i Also want to come with you to the camp."

  Jared "You can't come today, I'll take you next time."

  Khal cries but Jared comforts him by hugging him.

  Headmistress Fona "You both must have been a lot but seeing your love have made me happy. Jared you are welcome anytime to come and stay if you want to."

  Jared " thank you miss"

  Jared goes exploring the city. Juds city is one of the major cities. There are various types of good from all around the continent available here. Now a days security is tight because of war but overall it's quite peaceful. Jared looks around the city but doesn't have any money to spare for now. He finds an armory shop which sells all types of weapons.

  The shopkeeper Yanua notices the boy, "Boy, all my goods are top quality But not your size, maybe come back when u get a bit bigger, I'll cut u a good deal."

  Jared "Yes sir, I was looking for a weapon my size but everything seems big for me now. I'll get stronger and better back"

  Yanua " You sure have a strong mindset and good manner. I'll tell you what, why don't you take this wooden sword. It's good for kids. It will be just 10 silvers"

  Jared "I am sorry I am out of money right now. I'll come get it as soon as I earn some."

  Yanua "Hmmm.. I think I like you boy. What's your name? Where do you stay?

  Jared explains everything to the shopkeeper about the raid in his village and his quest to find his mother and his brother at the orphanage. He says that he was brought in the village by General Dali.

  Yanua " Aaaahh.. You have such a sad story, for someone your age. You are a very strong boy. I'll loan you this sword for 15 coopers per day. That will be around 4 silvers per month. And NXT month if you want to buy that I'll still let it go for 10 silvers. You need to train yourself for your quest and this I think is a good starting point."

  Jared ponders and calculates the money. He too thinks it's a good deal. " I'll take the sword for 10 coppers per day. "

  Yanua is a bit annoyed but agrees. " Its a pleasure knowing you. Hope you don't run away boy."

  Jared roams around the city and find that it's around past sunset and the city is lit up with lights covering the entire streets, There's no dark alleys in this city. It's like day in the night. Hence the name "The city of lights"

  Jared returns to the military camp and prepares to sleep.

  Next morning Anna finally wakes up.

  To be continued...