Edmund stood up from where he was lying, his mother came in not quite long and now he could hear her soft snore, she must have been stressed out today, they had done alot of work on the farm today and she had to sleep well to regain the strength she had dissipated today.
His young mind was still ruminating on the discussion he had with his mother before he angrily came in to sleep, "Why would his Father not want him to have anything to do with swordsmanship. He decided to go out to his favorite spot in the wood some distance from their house. He crept out of the house so as not to wake his mother and broke into a run immediately he was some distance from their house, he just wanted to rid his mind of the burdening thoughts in it.
He sat down under a tree which was at the outskirt of the forest, that was his favorite spot, he heard the howling of a wolf deep inside the forest, no parent would allow their child go anywhere near the forest alone at that time of the night due to fear of wild animals but here he was not afraid of that and his mother said he couldn't join the army. He had always practice with the wooden sword Mr Smith had made for him and Tristan.
He remembered the day he encountered a wolf, while he was practicing he was afraid and was about to run for his life but his instinct told him to wait, he had stared at the wolf in it's eye, the wolf seemed hungry but surprisingly it turned back without attacking him. He had heaved a sigh of relief and went back home immediately after the incident, although he was surprised but he also knew it might be because of the powers his mother claims he possessed and inherited from his father's family bloodline.
He was also looking forward to the day he would wield those powers, he closed his eyes, he could still remember the day he and his mother left the house, he had looked back and saw his father's eye laced with tears, "Are we leaving Father alone?" he had asked his mother that day and all she could say was he will join us later. He was 7years old then and had waited for 3 good years expecting his father before his mother grew tired of lying to him and told him his father was dead. He couldn't believe his ears but the cause of his death, his mother had refused to tell and no matter how much he pestered her to divulge the information he was always met with the same answer of "He was killed because he wielded a sword, which is why you shouldn't wield one" till he grew tired of asking.
Since then he had been nursing the ambition of going back to Bedrock which was the Capital of Aroer to discover the cause of his Father death and this was the opportunity he needed but here was his mother standing as an hinderance to that.
He decided to go to Mr Smith tomorrow probably he can make his mother see reasons to allow him and Tristan join the army, first thing tomorrow morning, he would head for the Smith's house before his mother dissuade Mrs Smith from sending Tristan also.
He stood up to leave when he heard footsteps, he tenaciously listened with rapt attention looking around at the same time to see if anybody was around where he was, he didn't see anyone and was about leaving when he heard another sound, the sound he was hearing wasn't from one person, then he remembered he had heard Mrs Smith conversation in her house from theirs, he knew this sound was also coming from a far distance but who could be running inside the forest at this odd hour.
His mind told him to go home but his curiosity told him otherwise, he decided to trace where the sound was coming from. He went straight into the forest tracing the source of the sound, he knew he was going too far but there was no point going back now, he had taken a step into it.
He was about turning back, he had he lost trace of the sound he was hearing when he saw two torches, the men holding those torches were coming towards him, he turned back to hide behind a tree which was at his back when he bumped into a lady, she shouted in surprise.
Edmund immediately covered her mouth with his hand to prevent her but it was too late, she was the victim and the two men were her assailants, he didn't know what may have transpired between them but this wasn't the time to ask that. The two men had heard her scream and were running towards them, as they came nearer into view Edmund could see that the two men also had Sword with them.
The lady in question couldn't be more than 16, if he had a sister he wouldn't have left her alone at the mercy of those men, the older brother protective instinct in him erupted.
He took the girl by her arm and they started running, he knew the forest path quite well, but the girl was slowing them down she had been wounded because Edmund could see blood oozing out of a wound on her arm, her right foot were also lacerated since she had boot only on her left foot, it must have fallen off her leg while she was running.
Edmund bend down to remove his sandals for her to wear when he saw that one of the men was behind him already, he stood up to see the other man beside him also, how did they catch up with them so soon.
He tried breaking into a run when one of the men threw a rope which coiled round his leg, with the rope he drew him, immediately the other man gave him a hard punch on his face which made him feel dizzy.
He had never felt anything like that before, now he realized why his mother wanted him to live the peaceful life of a farmer