The Black Tower

*CHUNK*
Kapallas' cleaver struck the block seperating the head of the pig from its shoulders. Leaving the blade stuck in the thick piece of wood, he grabbed the head and shoved it roughly into a burlap sack.
"Here you are Mistress", he said as tossed the sack onto the counter. A middle aged woman in brown woolen dress threw a few silver pennies next to the sack, "I hope this will be enough", she said. "It will be enough", Kapalla replied as he smiled, "enjoy your soup".

Kapalla ushered the women out of the store, she was the last customer for the day, and locked the front door. Spinning around quickly the bells in his hair jingled quietly. As almost all men in Arafel, Kapalla wore his hair braided with bells on the ends. Hurrying into the backroom he took off his butchers apron for the last time. He was finally old enough to learn the sword. For so many years he envied the men going to fight wearing their two curved swords on their backs, and now he would be one of them. "Master Chero I am finished", he said running out the back door, not slowing to hear whether or not there was a reply.

The back alleyway was dark for the time of day, the butchers shop being built right up against the inner walls of the keep. The inner wall was being raised and battlements being place in the cardinal directions to mount ballista on. The raids from the Blight were increasing and King Paitar was sparing no time in reinforcing the cities defensives. Barely giving the new height of the walls a glance, Kapalla turned and ran down the back alley towards his families home. He was getting stronger, he thought he could outrun his older brother Tapion now. Kapalla was already looking down on most of his older siblings, their mother always teased him that she found him one night crying on the doorstep. He always wondered if there was any truth behind that little motherly jibbing. The youngest brother of five and he looked to be the family bruiser.

Kapalla rounded the last corner in the back alley deep in thought and ran head first into wagon. He blinked his eyes. Rubbing his head, he was just about to curse whoever placed thier wagon here when he heard the laughing. "I told you he always runs as fast as he can through here!", a young man chuckled. Kapalla stepped back several paces as six young men hopped out of the back of the wagon. "Why did you do that Buo?", Kapalla asked, still rubbing the front of his head. "Well, we heard you are going to be joining us in training soon and we thought we could give you your first lesson." Just then, he noticed that each one of them carried a bundled practice sword in each hand. "You will not scare me that easily", Kapalla smiled, "give me a pair of those and I will take you on one at a time." "We have a different idea for your first lesson butcher." Buo flexed, "Lets see how well you bleed!"

With that said Buo and the other five young men raised thier practice swords. Kapalla did the only thing he knew he could do in this situtation. He turned and ran. "Hey! What..", Buo stammered, "after him!" Kapalla ran as fast as he could back down the alley. He had a sizeable lead on them when he reached the back door to the butcher shop. He slowed down just long enough to see that Master Chero had already locked the door and left for home himself. Hurrying down the alley he ran around a corner and tripped and fell over the base of the scaffolding the builders were using to set the south battlement in place. A sharp crack sounded and Kapalla heard men shouting, "The main rope has snapped, we are going to lose it!" Boards cracked like twigs and the lashings flew all around as the scaffolding started to collapse down. Buo and his companions rounded the corner in time to see the scaffolding coming down right on top of Kapalla. "No!" Buo screamed.

Kapalla felt that time slowed down. His blood was on fire. He could see every splinter flying from the shattering beams. He could smell the dirt and grass he was laying on. "This can't be it", he thought, "not now!" Everything went black.

Kapalla could hear his mother talking with his father, "I do not understand, Buo says he saw the whole scaffold come down on him and they had to pry the stone block off his chest. Why is there not a scratch on him?", his mother cried, "The only thing wrong with him is that he has the chills one hour, then a fever then next." "I do not know mother", his father said, "but some of the people are saying he must have the dark ones luck." What his father did not tell his mother is what the other people were saying. That he must have made a deal with the dark one for his luck.