It was a calm morning.
The brown-haired and nameless boy woke up with the first rays of sunshine and followed his morning routine as usual. Then he went to the kitchen and prepared breakfast.
The library was quiet, which was normal. It was too early to have visitants -the few ones that still frequented the old and dusty place-, and the only other living person in the building hadn’t left his room in a pair of weeks already.
The boy ate alone, and then put some toasts along with a cup of tea in a tray and went upstairs.
He stopped in front of the main chamber and knocked on the door. He didn’t receive an answer but still opened it and proceeded to the room’s inside.
The air felt oppressive and saturated. ‘...Is this how death feels?’ Thought the boy, hiding the sadness he felt.
“...I didn’t say you could enter, boy.” Said the old-man resting on the room’s bed. He was Arthur Redford, the owner of the building, both the library and the house section connected to it, as well as his boss and the closer to a father figure the boy ever had.
His emaciated visage made the boy’s stomach churn. The man wasn’t the most pleasant person in the world, but he wasn’t bad either. Redford had given him a home and food, so the boy would always be in debt with him.
“You didn’t say I couldn’t.” He ignored the man’s glare and put the tray over the night table. “You need to eat, sir.”
“I don’t.”
“You won’t recover if you don’t eat.”
“I won’t recover...” The boy frowned.
The old-man had changed since he got sick. Despite his age, he had been a strong man before. But now, he seemed to have lost the will to live and became even more grouchy than normal.
“Don’t make that face, kiddo... I can already feel the end getting near. There’s nothing you can do to change this.”
“It must be!” He yelled in frustration and anxiety.
“There isn’t.” Redford hissed, and his expression softened after a moment. “But you can do something for me, indeed.”
“What?” The old-man took off the key he always had hanging from the silver chain on his neck and gave it to him.
“There’s a book on my desk...” The boy gave a brief nod, introduced the key on the desk’s closed cabinet, and turned it. It opened with a click, and he immediately saw it; a red hardcover book.
He took it out and gave it to Redford, who observed the book with yearning and melancholy.
“Bring me the backpack and the map.” The boy complied immediately, getting both objects from the man’s wall exhibit.
Redford took the green backpack first and put the book inside. Then he opened the map.
“You know where we are, right?” The boy nodded. Redford had taught him how to read and then about subjects like geography, mathematic, and zoology.
“We are here, sir.” He pointed at the southeast, where Marchen was located.
“Good. Because I need you to do me a favor.” The man pushed the backpack to him. “I need you to deliver the book to a relative of mine.” The word ‘relative’ sounded stiff and insincere in his voice.
“I thought you didn’t have a family, sir.” No one had ever visited Redford in all the time he had worked for him.
“I don’t. He is a very particular case, and he also lives really far away from here. Have not seen him in years...” He commented inexpressive. The boy couldn’t say if the man was sad or not about it.
“Where?”
“Here.” The man pointed to the northwest part of the map, to a town called Carnhem.
“Car-en-hem?”
“Carnhem. The r is mute.” The boy nodded before finally processing what Redford had said.
“You want me to go there by myself?!” He was incredulous about such an impossible task.
“Yes.”
“But the distance is huge!” Both towns were in opposite directions. In fact, they were located on the opposite ends of the Z-shaped railway system that interconnected the country. “I would have to leave you alone, sir. And the ticket sure would cost a fortune.” ...Few people around Marchen could permit such a thing, and that didn’t include Redford.
Also, the idea of doing all that travel alone was overwhelming.
“You are right, I don’t have the money to pay for your transport, kiddo. So you'll need to take the shorter and cheaper route.”
“...Uh?”
“Whats the shorter distance between two points?” The boy knew the answer, and it just made him more nervous.
“A straight line... Do you want me to cross the forest?!” He expected the man to say no and explain himself. But he just nodded.
The boy couldn’t understand.
That was absurd! Because outside of the populated areas, dense forests covered the rest of the country.
Those areas were wild and inhabited, so people feared them and the animals that lived there. People even talked about legends of monsters and curses that would doom anyone dumb enough to walk into the deepest parts of the forest.
...And was he supposed to do just that?
“You shouldn’t fear the unknown. You can do this.” Redford said.
“How...? How can I do such a thing?” And not die?
“Take all you need now, while you still can. Everything, if it’ll help you accomplish what I’m asking... You can’t leave the book end up in the wrong hands. You need to deliver it to the owner of Carnheim’s library. He’ll keep it safe.” He said, in an unnaturally quiet tone.
“I can’t!” He was just a kid, after all. Why couldn't Redford see it?!
“...Everyone should travel through the Union Forest at least once in their lives. Your opportunity simply will be earlier than most people.” Redford’s turned pale.
“...Sir?”
“You are a nice kid. You are smart, and I think you can be brave too... But you have nothing to lose, do you?” He whispered, and suddenly blue flames surged out of nowhere, covering the bed.
The boy backed up in fear, pulling the backpack with him.
“SIR!” He yelled, observing the bizarre scene.
Despite the heat it produced, the fire wasn’t actually damaging Redford or his surrounding. It was just there, like an illusion.
“You have nothing. And I have no material things I can leave for you. The flames will consume everything I ever had.” The boy took a blanket and tried to turn off the fire, but it was useless, and Redford wasn’t making any effort to save himself, still talking as if nothing was happening. “...No. There’s something.”
“Sir, please move-!”
“Arthur.“ Redford said in realization, and the boy paralyzed, feeling dizzy suddenly. “That’s it! I’ll pass my name onto you.” The flames increased in size. “From this moment on, you’ll be Arthur.” Suddenly, the flames shined brightly, blinding the boy. “...I wish you good luck.”
Arthur felt himself being pushed and fell on the ground. When he finally opened his eyes again, he somehow was on the outside of the library. The backpack before his feet.
The very moment he stood up, the door was covered with fire, stopping him from entering again. He took the bag in a hurry and ran away to a safe distance.
Arthur watched with abhorrence and uselessness how the spectral force of nature engulfed the structure that had been his home for a year, and finally remembering its true nature destroyed it whole.
He felt cold and empty. In just a moment, Arthur had lost everything, both his home and the only person that cared for him. His name was the only thing that confirmed everything had even happened.
If he wanted, he could forget everything and just return to the orphanage in which he had lived his first eleven years of life.
He didn’t, though.
Arthur put on the backpack and walked to the town market. He had the money for that day’s groceries and could use it to buy some provisions.
...Yes, he was going to go to Carnhem. It had been Redford’s last will, after all. So it was the least he could do for him.
Arthur tried to ignore the tears in his eyes.
He had somewhere to go.
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