Amarth

Matt slept against the tree, but fitfully. He fell from it and his head bounced off the rock. This didn't even come close to waking him up though. He threw stray punches in his sleep. One of them hit the tree and almost felled it. His dreams were of his past.

[OOC: I want a flashback too!]

The house was quaint and far from town, but it did the job. Matt and his father spent little time actually in the house anyway, and Matt's mother had died giving him birth. Out back, the yard was littered with staves, bows and arrows, knives, swords, chucks, sais, and every other type of weapon imaginable. That was where all their time was spent. All they did was eat, train, and sleep. When Matt's father was at work, Matt trained alone. When he got home, they trained together, except for today. There was no training today.

Matt sobbed terribly as he watched his father get taken away by the sentinels. One of them spoke to his father, "Sorry to do this to you old buddy, but the law's the law." Amarth spoke only to his son, repeating over and over again "I'm sorry bud, but this is the way it has to be." Amarth put up no resistance to the sentinels. As they loaded him up on one of the horses, he spoke to the one who was his friend, "Take good care of my boy okay?"

"Of course old friend." All of the other sentinels rode off and the only people left were Matt and the sentinel. "Let's go Matt."

"Go away Emyn. I'm waiting right here till my dad get's back." Matt was only five years of age. He could not understand the situation. He did not understand why his dad had to leave. He did not know where he was going. He only knew that he could not imagine life without his dad. He sat in the doorway stubbornly.

"I wish he were coming back kiddo, but he's not. Now, let's go." He put a hand on Matt's shoulder and attempted to force him along, but Matt threw him hard on the ground and put him out cold.

When Emyn awoke, he sat up and spoke to Eldaire. "I'm sorry to do this to you Matt, but you leave me no choice." Emyn went to punch him, but Matt dodged and countered with a kick that doubled Emyn over, gasping for breath. Emyn's anger began to get the better of him. "Why you!"

At that moment, a strange bald man in red robes stepped forward and spoke. "Just a moment good sir. I have been observing this prediciment for a while now, and I would like to adopt this boy if it suits you, and the boy."

"Do what you like with him!" With that, Emyn began to walk away, but, remembering his promise to Amarth, he sighed and turned around. "You'll give him a good home right?"

"Of course sir. He will be very happy in our monestary I promise." The man's voice was so kind and gentle that Emyn was convinced at that. He nodded and walked away. The man then turned to Matt. "Hello there Matt. My name is Alda. I know it's hard for you to understand, but your father will be very busy for a long time and he won't be coming back. We'll leave him a note if you like. I'm sure he'll come for you when he's finished." Matt looked at the man curiously. He felt he had known him forever. He approached the man cautiously at first, but he ran to him, throwing his arms around him and sobbing heavily into his robes.

FLASH

Eldaire woke with a start. His stomach growled furiously. The sun was already high in the sky. "Huh. I woke up pretty early today." He ran off into the woods to find himself and his group breakfast."