....
I have fresh meat, freshly hunted meat!
I have the best swords and maces with the best metals used!
Come join our exciting competition and win a hundred gold coins of kings!
In fact, we had come to the market with Karen later, that is, the market of the savages!
During these 2 days of sword and mace training, I came close to death many times. Many times I felt like I was dying.
I was on the verge of death and asked myself how I survived.
I looked at the market, the savages who were easily doing their shopping.
Contrary to what the court, the church and the people said, that the savages only think about fighting, they have no reason and intelligence and do not even pity themselves and are constantly fighting each other.
Of course, it was not impossible for humans to distort and change everything to their advantage. That nothing existed. I am sure that the gods were not as they said.
Oh God, if they were just, they wouldn't have created us like this. If we committed even a small sin, we would be severely punished in hell.
It was Incredibly hot for me, because I had to hide myself in a hooded cloak and a mask, because I was human. It's true that Karen was a savage and in a way, they were their friends, but I was not a friend of savages.
I felt that Karen had taken us somewhere. She had led me to another place.
We entered an alley, there was only one house and I heard a scream. I wondered if it was real or not...
The door of the house opened wide and a wild dog, resembling a human, appeared.
The wild dog came to Karen and hugged her.
Wild dog: Hello old friend, how are you, have you remembered us after a long time!? Karen: Sorry, I've been busy with various missions for a while and now I've found a new problem and you won't see me for a long time.
And he pointed at me.
Wild Dog: What, a human! Is he a human child! Is he with you? What's he doing here!?
Karen: It's a long story, I'll tell you later, for now this is without this boy, he's familiar and his name is Alex. I'm here to choose a horse or Nora for him now.
What, Nora, what was this again?
Wild Dog: Okay, no problem, if it's acceptable to you, let's go.
And we entered the house with him, which turned out to be a horse stable.
There was no sign of Nora there, except for the horses.
Wild Dog: Okay, now Alex, choose.
I looked at the horses there. I already knew how to ride horses, but I wanted to see what Nora was.
... Ummm, I choose. But where are the Nora? I mean, there are only horses here. What is Nora?
Wild Dog started laughing
Wild Dog: I thought you were curious, well, you have a right to be curious. No one but the wild ones has ever seen Nora, but now, thanks to Karen, I will show you Nora and, on top of that, I will give you the choice.
And she pointed and we went into another part with her.
And there...
I saw Nora for the first time.
They looked like horses, but they were thinner and smaller and their ears were like deer's ears and they had two little horns on them and a few spots on their noses and their hair was longer than horses' and their eyes were covered with cloth.
Wild Dog: Well, these are Nora. They really do look like horses, but they are much faster and although they are smaller, they are more powerful and they are only black and white. On the contrary, horses try to escape when they are in captivity, so we closed their eyes.
.. So, what other main differences do they have, other than what you said?
Wild Dog: Unlike horses, they eat everything and can eat meat, and the first creature you fight and feed on becomes exactly like them. Their power and nature are much stronger and they have a much stronger connection to you. Instead of seeing you as their owner, they actually see you as their companion who is supposed to be with them until the end and they are much harder to tame.
Now what is your choice?
They were stronger than horses, but I didn't feel like getting into trouble again. On the one hand, my fear of the church and Karen's heavy training made me feel worse and I didn't want someone who was hard to tame.
My choice was the horse, which was easier to tame.
.. My choice...
I was quickly transported to one of the stables when I was interrupted by the sound of something hitting me.
Wild Dog: It must be that damned Nora again.
And after the beatings became more intense, he quickly went to one of the stables.
In that stable, there was a baby Nora whose color was a surprising combination of black and white, her body was extremely thin and covered in wounds, and she kept hitting herself against the door and the wall.
Wild Dog took his whip and then tied her hands and feet with ropes.
It was interesting that even though she was in such a bad state and her hands and feet were tied, she still struggled to untie the ropes.
Wild Dog: I apologize to this damned Nora, since she was separated from her mother, even though her mother died, she has tried many times to return to her mother. And that is what has caused us trouble. I want to get rid of her.
I looked at that Nora and my heart ached for her. She was in exactly the same situation as me. She was in captivity like me. And the result of other people's wrong choices had caused her to be separated from her family.
.. I choose this Nora.
Wild Dog: Are you crazy? Do you even know what you're saying? I'm telling you, it's really hard to tame Nora. This is the worst. And there's a high chance she'll run away at any moment.
.. I want this again.
Wild Dog: Karen, at least tell me something. She can choose any Nora other than me.
Karen: I support Alex's decision and accept her choice.
Surprisingly, this cruel and domineering woman supported me.
Wild Dog, seeing my insistence and Karen's support, finally and forcefully agreed to buy Nora and return to the cabin.
She tried to escape several times on the way, so we had to tie her hands and feet with ropes.
Finally, and with difficulty, we reached the hut
Where, to our surprise, Karen was entering the hut.
Don't you want to teach?
... You have achieved your wish, in this respect I am a tyrant. In your opinion, there is no need for me to train you. In fact, a savage should tame that horse or Nora, which has been with him in all his wars and journeys, and communicate with her, without anyone seeing her.
And he entered the hut and closed the door.
Curse you, Ziyar, curse you, Karan, for putting me in this situation. That cruel woman who wanted to kill me by training her, now says you have achieved your wish.
I went to Nora and started caressing her.
I took off the blindfolds and she had very beautiful eyes.
.. You see, Nora, how much our lives are similar to everyone else's. We were both forced to stay away from our families. We are both in captivity and now we must be trained.
But from now on, you and I will be together like two friends and companions.
Now I will untie your hands and feet and, contrary to what that wild dog said, I will open your eyes. Why should no one see your beautiful eyes?
I started to untie them, and they untied and ran away.
They started to run away with a strange speed.
And I didn't understand what had happened. A secret feeling between us, pride, fear of Karen and punishment after running away, made me follow Nora with all my heart.
Damn myself, damn it.
.... After a while, I don't know how long I had walked, I came back without noticing myself. I saw that I had entered the forest and Nora had gone a few meters ahead, near a spring.
I slowly went behind a tree and started looking at her.
I was panting. I don't know how I got to my feet. Maybe those trainings had paid off.
She was staring around and wandering around the plain, looking for something. I don't know what it was. Maybe it was her mother, but...
Grrrr. There was a snoring sound and something moving.
Well, when I looked closer, I saw a big black wolf with big teeth and very red fur slowly coming towards Nora and Nora, not paying attention to him, just following him. Something else was happening. What was I supposed to do now, watch someone else die? Someone else was dying right in front of my eyes? I was confused, should I go and stop him?
Again, the feeling of confusion, the feeling of compassion, the connection between me, made me react quickly and run towards Nora at full speed and push her.
And that made the wolf grab me instead of Nora.
I jumped back a few meters and my body, especially my neck, was burning badly, but still, the feeling of survival fear and survival instinct made me, regardless of the pain, draw my sword and fight to defend myself, to survive myself.
This time, I had to follow Karen's words. Defense would lead to death, so I had to attack. I might die in the end, but I would die with honor. The wolf attacked me and I rushed towards the wolf.
I didn't know anything, but I attacked again.
He grabbed me once more and I jumped back once more.
He came at me and started hitting and grabbing.
I quickly grabbed his hands with mine, preventing him from grabbing any further.
I pushed him to the other side with all my strength. And without any sword, I pitched on him and
With all my strength and all my hope, I started punching his face with my hands, hitting him so hard in the mouth that his face was bloody and several of his teeth cracked.
But he was still stronger, bigger and hit me with all his strength.
And I was thrown and hit a tree.
The wolf slowly got up and came towards me.
I also leaned against the tree and looked at the wolf and Nora for the last few moments. I was relieved of this damned life cursed with misery.
I started laughing and prepared myself for death.
And then I closed my eyes and prepared myself for the eternal sleep that is death.
And I only heard the sound of that wolf attacking and Nora howling and after that I didn't understand anything else.
... From Karen's perspective ...
I closed the door and sat down
Well, Alex got his wish. I lied about that, but I wanted to see if Alex could bring with him the ability to turn Nora into one of the most loyal and yet extremely difficult to tame?
There was a small whisper that indicated that Alex was talking to Nora.
It was interesting that he chose Nora. Of course, Nora looked like him to her, so I supported his choice to show that I understood her.
After a while, the whispers stopped and then there was a scream and a shout.
I quickly opened the door and only saw a lot of dust coming from the forest and Alex running fast.
He did the last thing he shouldn't do, the mistake he shouldn't make until Nora was tamed, he took off his blindfold and let her go.
I quickly walked to my horse.
It was night, it was raining heavily and there was lightning.
There was no sign of Alex.
I was getting desperate, but no, I had to look for him.
I could hear Nora moaning.
Was Alex there? I quickly galloped to where the sound was coming from.
There was a spring with a dead wolf salamander (a hybrid of a female wolf and a male bear) lying on it. Nora was on top of something, howling and jumping up and down.
Well, when I looked closely, it was Alex, Alex!
I quickly got off the horse and hugged Alex. His body was covered in wounds and he was bleeding profusely.
He was still breathing, but that didn't matter, the important thing was to save him.
I hugged him and got on the horse.
Nora was moaning too and following me.
My tears, after a long time, the pain of losing my family and being away from work, losing my mother, the torture of her work came back to me.
I was losing someone else again. I was losing someone else. I was losing someone else.
All of this was the result of my relationship with myself. Anyone who contacted me would become dependent. There was no result but death.
Just what the old woman had predicted. That anyone close to me would have no result but death.
But this time, no, this time, I didn't want to lose anyone. I was sacrificing my life for Alex. I wasn't going to let anyone else die because of my curse.
I quickly walked towards the old doctor.
..... I knocked hard on the door
And the old man finally opened the door
.. Hersh, please save this boy
... A human child?
.. Yes, please save him for me
After a few minutes of examination and dressing and stitching, Alex was finally done
... Karen, I don't know how this boy should have died by now with these wounds, but he's alive!
.. Dead what?
... No no calm down, I'm saying you're not dead yet, you're healthier than me, I just survived, how could you survive?
.. Now now...
... Yes, Karen, you're still alive, don't worry, you just have a few wounds and stitches, you have to wait until it heals. Now I'm going to be you and this human child.
I don't know how or when, but I have to thank the person who saved Alex, the person who killed the wolf.
When there was a loud crash...
... Karen, come on, Nora Is here.
And just as I was about to say something, I saw Nora come over to me and shake Alex.
Of course, Alex, in addition to being able to take me with him tonight, is also communicating with this Nora.
From now on, I swear I will give my life to save Alex.
... From Alex's perspective...
I was asleep when I woke up in a lot of pain and shaking.
I saw Nora shaking me.
Huh, people must have gone to heaven and this Nora came dead with me.
When I saw Karen.
What was it? He works here, he's dead, not the one who wasn't with me, no
.. Let me see, I'm dead, you're in hell with me
When I first saw the sadness in his eyes, but he quickly started laughing
... Heh, don't be afraid, we're not in hell together yet, we're alive for now, the world hasn't given up on us
I looked down at my skirt and saw Nora licking me and rubbing herself against me
... Congratulations, you made it!
.. What? For what!?
... You were the first human to communicate with a Nora, and now Nora sees you as her friend.
You managed to gain her trust by saving her life, so she comes with you wherever you go, supports you in everything you do, and will be with you until the end.
Furthermore, by killing the Salamander Wolf and eating its flesh, its essence of power has become like his, and now you have a strong warrior friend who will participate in battles by your side.
Now, get some sleep and rest. For now, a few weeks of absolute rest.
.. I mean...
... Yeah, get some sleep now until I go to the doctor.
What kind of doctor is that...
I didn't care much. Those wounds and fatigue took their toll, and I closed my eyes comfortably.
End of Chapter 22