244: The Farm
We quickly explained to Tadwick that we needed to go check on the farm. We asked him to keep an eye on his friends and make sure that they were okay. Telling him that he couldn’t come with us would have just made him want to come. Asking him to do something important was a much easier way of convincing him to stay behind. We actually left Dolly and Olly in charge of the child welfare and we rushed off.
We hopped onto the horses outside. I say hopped… Kiyui delicately lifted me onto Hazel, the stallion from our farm, then Kiyui hopped onto Lucas’ horse. I have never actually ridden Hazel before. He’s too big for me really. Even the mare is too big for me really. But Lucas’ horse is even larger, so that definitely wouldn’t have worked at all.
We galloped off… not at full speed. As fast as I was able to control. As I said… I am not really of the right size for Hazel. Although, to be fair to Hazel… he has always been quite a compliant horse. Unless you are trying to remove him from the mare, he can be very awkward in that situation. Which is precisely why they are kept in separate stables.
As we travelled along the road, it became apparent that the destruction and damage had been far worse on the outside of the city. With the hordes running around unchecked, the farmlands had been completely decimated. The innards of livestock were all over the place. Crops, barns, and farmhouses were on fire. Fortunately, it appears that most of the farm owners had made it to the city before the hordes had swept through the area.
Due to our farm being a reasonable distance south, I hoped that maybe it had escaped the worst of it. That hope grew as we approached the outskirts of the farm and I saw our farmhouse was not aflame. In fact, none of our buildings appeared to be aflame. I took that as a good sign.
As we got closer, it became apparent that most of the crops had been trampled. A horde has definitely been here. A different horde to the city… the footprints weren’t that of goblins or kobolds. I didn’t have time to analyse them properly though. I needed to find my family.
As we approached the house, we started coming across burned corpses. Corpses of Sahuagins, Bullywugs, and a bunch of creepy insectile creatures that I have only ever seen earlier today at V’Rel Manor. At the centre of this pile was a much larger creature… a Wastrilith. Gods… those things are dangerous; they can spray boiling water from their mouths. Not to mention the fact that any water that they come into contact with becomes highly poisonous. Get that shit in your mouth and you are straight up dead.
Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
The corpses of our livestock were all over the place. Chests ripped open, intestines strewn across the fences, heads on sticks, bite marks all over their flesh. Our farm may have escaped the fires, but the horde’s presence had definitely been felt.
We reached the farmhouse and I saw two cocoons by the side of the house. Cocoons like the one that we brought Svampe home in all those years ago. Did Svampe make those? He must have done. But who is in them? I can’t open them. They hatch when their inhabitants are healed. Open them early and we might kill whoever is inside. One of them is much bigger than the other… probably Nomius. Is the other one Svampe? Can he make one around himself? Is it my mum? Oh gods… I need to know what happened here.
We tied up the horses by the front door. I went to open the door, but I was suddenly filled with dread. There were two… there were two… but there were four people here. What if…
Kiyui took my hand.
Kiyui: “Dwyn, whatever happens, we get through this together, okay.”
I squeezed his hand tightly. His presence means so much to me. I opened the door and we stepped into the kitchen. Svampe was sat at the table… not doing anything… just sitting. When he heard us approach, he just looked up… he didn’t say anything… he wasn’t crying… but his eyes were so full of pain and sadness. His gaze moved across the kitchen and fell to rest at my mum’s room.
I rushed over and opened the door. Her and Lucas were there… lying on the bed. They weren’t moving. I rushed over to my mum and shook her. I shook her so hard. I shouted at her. I pleaded with her to wake up. But she just lay there… motionless.
Kiyui grabbed me and pulled me away from her. He wrapped me in his arms. I started crying… it was just like when I lost my dad. I couldn’t handle it. I just couldn’t. I collapsed into his arms and we both fell to the floor.
Kiyui didn’t say anything… he just held me. He held me so tightly. I pulled him closer to me. I couldn’t let him go. I needed him close to me. I needed him as close to me as I could possibly get him. My mum… my mum is gone. My mum… whose always been there for me… who has guided me through life… who taught me how to read, how to write, how to use a fucking spoon… who showed me how to fight and defend myself… who raised my kids… who meant everything to me. She’s gone… she’s gone…