Enemies in the night

"You’re going to die, boy."

"What?" The fifteen year-old boy looked questioningly at the old doctor. "But the wound is just a small one, how can…" When he saw the look on the old man’s face, he shut up. But a small sense of fear was beginning to show in the boy’s eyes.

"It’s not this wound I mean. It will heal perfectly well - except that it probably won’t have time for it."

"What are you talking about!" the boy demanded to know. "What do you mean?"

The doctor suddenly looked very, very old and tired, and a look of hopelessness filled his eyes. His hands were starting to shake. Suddenly, he raised so fast that the boy almost jumped of surprise, and walked towards the window.

"With the wind from the north. They come with the wind from the north."

The boy raised too, grasped his coat and walked towards the door.

"I think you’re starting to get old. You’re talking nonsense. I go home now, and please don’t tell this to the whole village. They will only make fun of you. I - "

"Shut up!" The old doctor turned towards him, with a furious look in his eyes. His face was turning red, and his mouth formed an ugly grimace. "The one who’s talking nonsense here, is you! You don’t know what you’re talking about."

"No, how do you expect me to when you don’t want to tell me anything? You can’t just tell me that I’m going to die and then leave me alone! What do you expect me to do? Go ahead and kill myself before anyone else does it?"

"That would probably have been the best," the old doctor murmured. "They’re going to kill me too for this… Don’t tell anybody that I’ve warned you, alright?"

"I promise." The boy sat down again. He could not hide the fear in his eyes. His hands grasped tight around his coat, maybe to stop them from shaking. Anyway, the doctor looked far more afraid than he. The old man checked both the windows and the doors before he sat down.

"The Kamal-Therion," he whispered as he leaned forward. The boy got a look of surprise in his eyes and leaned back again.

"But I though the Kamal-Therion was only lies and old stories to scare children!"

"Shhh!" The doctor whispered. "They have spies everywhere. They are after you, Thamonu. And this is no worthless crap from a foolish old man. This is reality. I know what they do to people. I know what they do when they are bored and want someone to bring some fun into cold winter nights. They’ve been watching you for quite a long time. They’ve told me. They’ve been here many times, reminding me of the past. You have to get away, Thamonu. Or kill yourself before they get you."

"But why would they want to do something like that to me? Someone they don’t know?"

"Because you’re the youngest son of the chief. Haven’t you ever wondered why the chiefs in the past only had one son? Kamal-Therion got the other ones. One son was all the chiefs were allowed to have. Times were different then, but laws and customs haven’t changed. Don’t think that Kamal-Therion is only myths. That will cost you more than your life. Not even their magic is myth."

"Will they torture me? For a long time?" he asked, while his hands were trembling.

"Yes. That’s sure they’ll do. If they get you, just hope they’ll kill you quickly."