Derek LeShure Jr. e Coldest Winter

e Coldest Winter

Derek Leshure Jr.

This is a love and revenge story with mystery twisted together. e story begins in Ronitia (row-nith-eah), the second-largest region in the continent. Aleksy, the main character, is from a lower end family who lives in the city of Tarko. e owner of e łabędz (lah-bee-edz), whose name is revealed later, took Aleksy in after his parents died three years prior when he was 16 and is giving him his own living space above the tavern in exchange for a job at the tavern with little pay in exchange for no rent. e story takes place within a fantasy medieval-era where nightly beasts, such as the Czenobog, are just becoming a concern in towns and cities. Cities all over Ronitia, similar to Tarko are just now gaining rulers and authority. Unfortunately, with the growing and unstable power, many are grabbing for that power to make it their own, going to any means necessary.

Chapter 1 - e Commotion e weather was getting colder in the air, and the colorful leaves were starting to fall and littering the roads leading towards Tarko, one of the major evolving cities in Ronitia. Aleksy made his way towards the door of the łabędź; the local tavern in Tarko before he stopped when two familiar voices called out to him.

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“Hey Aleksy!” the rst voice called out. Aleksy turned to see who was calling his name, but, before he could, the second voice quickly spoke out.

“Hey Kumela, how was Mt Pola?” It was Jerzy and Róża, his best friends since childhood.

“Hey Kumpelka,” Aleksy replied. “It was getting dark, and I wanted to get back before the Czernobogs came out.”

“Do you still believe those creatures from when we were kids?” Róża asked. Jerzy tried to hold in a chuckle as he remembered Aleksy being terri ed of the story about the Czernobog that they were all told when they were kids.

“Look, when they come and get you, we’ll see who’s laughing then.” ey all started laughing as they made their way inside e łabędź.

As they walked through the set of doors, an explosion of noise blew up in front of them. ere was loud music playing from a Hurdy-Gurdy in the corner along with the singing of the bard playing, and they couldn’t distinguish the conversations people were having. Over all the noise Aleksy heard someone call his name. It was the owner of the tavern, Leon Cygan. Leon took Aleksy in three years ago after his parents died. Since then Aleksy has been working for Leon at the tavern in exchange for living upstairs.

“Aleksy! I need you over here!” he yelled.

Aleksy made his way around the bar and towards where Leon was serving drinks to men sitting at the bar.

“Hey Leon, what’s up?”

“I need you to bring these drinks to the table over there,” Leon pointed to a table in one of the corners of the tavern where four men were sitting. they must have just gotten o -duty because they were still in the Tarko guard uniforms.

“Yeah, no problem. Leon, do you need help the rest of tonight, too?”

“No, I should be good so enjoy your night. Just remember

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the curfew if you go out.”

“Okay,” Aleksy replied. He took the tray that held four large glass cups full of one of the many liquors held behind the bar. On his way to the table, he heard the men better as he got closer. He heard them joking about a recruit who had a rough rst day.

Aleksy set down the drinks and put them in front of the men. “Here you go, boys,” he said, trying not to interrupt the conversation the men were having. As Aleksy walked away, the doors to the tavern burst open. It was an On-duty guard clearly out of breath from running.

“Dominik, Kamil, Adrian, and August! Come quickly. All the guards are being sent to the castle. ere’s been an emergency.” All the men previously sitting at the table were rushed out of the door with the other guard. ere was a long pause before anyone said anything. People started to look at each other quietly trying to gure out what just happened.

“All right, people! How about, you get back to doing whatever the hell you were doing before! Eh!?” Leon shouted, breaking the silence. In almost an instant, the volume rose. Everyone started to talk about what they thought happened. Aleksy, Róża, and Jerzy were the most confused. Aleksy walked up to where Róża, and Jerzy were standing waiting for him by the bar.

“Did you hear anything at the table!?” they both asked eagerly.

“No, at least nothing related to whatever just happened. All they were talking about was some recruit, I think”

“Do you think something happened to the Kalosa family?” he asked the two.

“Of course, you ask that rst,” Jerzy snarked.

“Oh, won’t you shut up about that?” Róża snipped.

Aleksy always had a special feeling toward the Kalosa family ever since he was a kid. His parents, before they died one night in a re when he was sixteen, were somewhat close to the royal family. Aleksy and Ania, the Kalosa family’s daughter, used to

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play together as kids and were very close to one another. Even though Aleksy hasn’t seen Ania since he was around eight or nine, he couldn’t remember, he always had a crush on her. Jerzy and Róża were quick to notice when Aleksy rst started to like Ania. Jerzy was especially quick to tease him to try and seem cool; Róża, on the other hand, couldn’t help but stick up for him mainly because she had a crush on him, but also because he would stick up for her when she was being bullied for having darker, tanner skin than most of the people in Tarko.

“I’m sure they’re ne,” Jerzy said sarcastically. “Besides, if anything was wrong, I’m sure they have enough money to buy whatever and whomever they need.”

“I guess you’re right, but something feels o . ey said it was an emergency and that every guard was being sent to the castle. Something is wrong.” Aleksy tried to explain;

Aleksy was right to think something was wrong because there was a terrible event coming.

Chapter 2 - Eyes Like an Arrow A few days later, most of the guards were recalled back to the castle and were holding it down like a fortress. As the public started talking, many were convinced someone was killed because the passageway to the Castle became heavily guarded, as well as the main center surrounding the Castle. No one outside of the Royal guards and the royal family is completely sure of what happened. e king’s advisor, Polo, enters Ania’s room while she is found still in bed, weeping.

“Princess Ania, we must talk about the future. I understand this is hard but would your father want you to waste your days hidden in your chamber?”

“To hell what you think! My father was murdered! My mother was taken! And all you can think about is the future

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for this kingdom,” she barked at him with tears streaking down her face. “I understand where you’re coming from; however, without any rulers, everything your family has built for you will either fall apart or be taken away by someone else. e royal guards are aware and are getting only the best to nd Queen Kalosa as quickly as we can. In the meantime, I will arrange a meeting with the princes throughout Ronitia for you.”

“No!” she snipped. “I mean, no thank you. I’d like to nd someone that I see t to rule Tarko and uphold our family name.”

“As you wish.” Polo bowed and left the chamber leaving Ania alone once again.

She didn’t know where to start looking, when almost everyone she’s met previously, had just been interested in the wealth and the power the Kalosa family provided. She thought about him, she couldn’t remember his name, she was thinking about asking her advisor to nd the name. His name was on the tip of her tongue but she couldn’t quite catch it. She did, however, remember those soft but deep amber eyes he had, the same pair of eyes that pierced through her defensive walls like an arrow. It’s been years since she last saw him, she wondered where he was now and how he was doing, was he still around? She wondered.

Chapter 3 - e Serpent’s Request It was pouring ursday night when Emil made his way to the meeting place wearing an all-black robe to help hide his gure. He saw the courier waiting in the alleyway up against the wall on one of the housing buildings used by the lower class who weren’t able to a ord better housing.

“ ank you for meeting me on short notice,” Emil said without making eye contact.

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“No problem, anything for the Pruski family” the courier bowed his head as a sign of respect. When he raised his head, he was met with dark, green, serpent-like eyes that seemed to have frozen him from moving.

“I need you to deliver this letter to someone very important and high in power, by any means necessary. Please keep it silent, if they capture you or even see you, the royal guards will most likely kill you. Especially with the recent events that occurred”

“Understood, is there any place you want me to place the letter?”

“Place it somewhere she will see it.” Emil handed the letter to the courier, he looked at the letter which read Ania Kalosa, e princess of Tarko, Ronitia. It started to pour even harder at this point, just barely enough to hide the chill and fear that ran down his spine.

“Meet me here when it’s done, I’ll know when you arrive.” Emil tossed the courier a rounded hand-sized string bag, it was full of Ronitian Bits, the currency for Tarko and most places within Ronitia. Emil headed towards the street when he stopped and looked over his shoulder.

“Oh, and don’t tell anyone about this, okay?” He smiled and stared at the courier for a couple of seconds until he walked out on the street and disappeared into the night. e courier, however, didn’t move. He was in terror, those Dark green eyes had wrapped around his neck like a snake, making it hard to breathe. He stood there only for a couple of minutes until he regained his cool again and made his way home, thinking of how he was going to in ltrate the Royal Castle.

Chapter 4 - e Letter of Confusion e łabędź was surprisingly full of people for an early Friday afternoon. e people were talking, smoking, and especially drinking like usual. Aleksy was at the bar pouring alcohol for

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the men when a guard walked through the door, the tavern went quiet. Everyone stared as if the entire world stop spinning, waiting for the guard to speak.

“Aleksy Kolsek? Is Aleksy Kolsek here?” he asked. Before Aleksy could say anything Leon spoke up.

“Is there a problem?” he asked from behind the bar.

“I’m not sure, are you Aleksy?” people were starting to gather around

“No. I’ve been his guardian for the past three years, what? Is he in trouble again?”

“I’m not sure, I have a letter for him from the Kalosa family.” As the guard made his way to the bar, the people began to back up making room for the guard. e guard gently set the letter on the bar and made his way back to the door, just before he reached for the door Aleksy spoke up.

“Who wrote the letter?” He wondered if she wrote the letter, or if she even remembered him. It’s been a long time since he saw those Dark brown eyes, he could never forget them. He remembered how it always looked like they glowed in the sunlight, he remembered her hair which went past her shoulders, her beautiful brown hair that always had highlights in the front.

“I wasn’t told, when they open the letter they’ll know and they can tell you.” e guard said unknowingly that he was talking to Aleksy.

Later that day Aleksy walked up the all too familiar trail to the top of Mt. Polo where the Wielki dąb stood above everything below. Aleksy opened the letter while sitting underneath the tree in the cool humid grass, feeling the chilling breeze which let him know winter was going to be even colder that year. As he opened the letter he saw beautiful cursive writing which read:

Dear Aleksy, I hope all is well with you, I’m sending this letter to you because

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I would like to invite you to the Kalosa castle. I heard about your parents just recently and I’d like to apologize on the Kalosa family’s behalf for your loss. I’m sending this letter to you because there are things I’d like to discuss with you in private. I apologize that I wasn’t able to come and speak in person but I hope you’ll accept this invitation just as caringly.

Yours sincerely, Ania Kalosa

Aleksy wasn’t sure how to react, he hadn’t seen princess Kalosa since he was eight or nine, what confused him the most was what she wanted to talk about, he didn’t know if he was in trouble or not. He realized that it had to be about something di erent, if he was in trouble, the guard wouldn’t have delivered the letter and left without him. He spent the rest of the day in the tavern, then later that night in his bed thinking about all the reasons for sending the letter. He didn’t get much sleep that night and Jerzy and Róża could tell when they met up for breakfast that morning.

“Woah! Were you busy with a lady all night?” Jerzy smirked and began to laugh, Róża rolled her eyes and didn’t seem amused with Jerzy’s remark.

Róża hit Jerzy in the back of the head which led to a quick “Ow!” Quietly followed up with a concerned look.

“Seriously though, are you ok Kumela?”

“Yeah, I’m just confused and tired, I—I got a letter from Ania.”

“Ania Kalosa!? What!? Why?! What did she say?!” ey both roared a tidal wave of questions that Aleksy spent the night already thinking about, he wasn’t even sure how to answer the questions they were asking because he didn’t have the answers himself.

“I’m not sure,” he nally replied. “I’m not sure what she wants, but I have to go.” Róża and Jerzy looked at each other in

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concern, they didn’t say a word but they had the same thought.

“Alesky, we don’t think you should go,” Róża said gently, followed by an agreement nod by Jerzy.

“What? why not? I have no reason not to.” he tried to explain his reasoning to them but their expressions didn’t change.

“Kumela…She left us years ago, She’s part of the royal family now, she didn’t need us then, and she doesn’t need us now” Róża reached out and placed her hand on his arm.

“Yeah, She has all that money and power, what could she want us for?” Jerzy added angrily.

“I know she left, but I can’t just ignore her letter.” Róża and Jerzy glanced at each other and agreed once again.

“Fine, we know we can’t stop you. Just make sure you’re back at the tavern before closing or Leon will lock you out again and I prefer if you didn’t knock on my door during the middle of the night again” Róża told him.

“I won’t, I’ll be o now then.” Aleksy waved goodbye at Róża and Jerzy and made his way towards the castle, unknowing of the terrible things that he was about to learn.

Chapter 5 - e Letter It was pouring the ursday before when Ania found the letter on the table inside her room, underneath the somewhat big ower pot full of Snowdrops. She picked it up and brought it to her bed where she opened the letter and began reading it:

Dear Ania, We’d like to send our sincere grievances for the death of your father. However, we’d like to discuss plans for the wedding between you and our son Emil Pruski. As you know, our family is of high status and well respected, this will be a bene cial event for both of us. We get to be part of the royal family and the bene ts that it comes with and you will get the stability Tarko needs to ensure its

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long-lasting lifetime. We hope you nd our request enlightening and hope you share the same ideals, after all, we heard about the Queen, it’d be a real shame to have no family at such an important time, especially with your father out of the way.

Yours Sincerely, e Pruski Family

Her hands trembled when she nished the letter, not only in fear but also in anger. How could someone kill her father, kidnap her mother, and then send a letter implying that if she doesn’t comply, she won’t ever see her mother ever again? e Pruski family was well known to all classes of wealth for many would go to them for ‘special’ favors. She became furious at the boldness of the Pruski to not only thought about him again, she remembered how he was always able to calm her down just by looking at her. She wasn’t sure why he had popped into her head but she was unable to think of anything else. She wanted to see him, she felt the need to need him, she tried to remember his name.

“Polo! Polo! Come here quickly” she yelled

“What is it, princess?”

“I need you to nd someone for me, I can’t remember his name but he was a boy that I used to play with when I was younger. Do you know the names of the families that we were close to like that?” she asked, Polo started to think about who the royal family was close enough to allow Ania to play with other kids, of course, but her parents were very selective about who got close to her.

“ ere were some but I think I know who you’re talking about. You’d come home happy those days, oh how time ies,” he remarked.

“I’ll have to check a few things but once I remember I will let you know. Is there a reason you’re asking? Perhaps the princess has thought about a possible new ruler for Tarko?” he said

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jokingly with a smirk on his face to get Ania to laugh, it indeed worked.

“No, no it’s not like that, just popped into my head is all.” She said trying to cover the true feelings from Polo’s comment. Above everything else, she hoped he would hear her call for help.

Chapter 6 - Call to Arms Aleksy was led to a private room within the Castle, the room was heavily guarded as a safety precaution. When he entered the room he saw Ania sitting on a chair looking out the window, she turned to look at him. His heart skipped a beat, he knew because he felt the same way when he rst met her, and it was a feeling he never forgot.

“It’s you, you’re here,” She said.

“Yeah, I couldn’t just ignore your plea for this meeting, however, I’m a bit lost on the reason I was called on for.”

“I asked to see you because you might be the only one I can trust with this information, our families have helped each other before and I’m sorry to come to your aid once more but this is a matter my guards cannot x.” She explained the letter she got ursday night and how she might have to marry Emil Pruski to save the life of her mother. She also explained how the guards wouldn’t work because not only does she have no idea where to look or how to act in this situation, but the guards would draw too much attention to anything they do. After a couple of hours of throwing ideas back and forth, they nally came up with a plan. ey were going to send a letter back to the Pruski family to arrange a meeting on Mt. Pola where Emil and Ania would meet to talk about the wedding that would be falsely planned until the guards arrive and detain Emil for questioning. If anything were to go bad at any time, Aleksy would be nearby ready to intervene.

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“So that’s the plan, is there anything we need to correct before we continue?” She asked Aleksy.

“No I don’t think so, I do want to warn you now though, I’ve seen a Czernobog on Mt. Pola. I was sixteen at the time, it was the rst place I went, to run from the re. at’s where I saw it. I can’t describe it but I’m sure that’s what I saw. at’s also the place Leon found me, he heard about a kid running towards Mt. Pola, and at that time Czernobogs were a real problem at the farms outside the main city. Leon was the one brave enough to come and look for me.” Aleksy looked into Ania’s eyes as they seemed so peaceful and tranquil, he could tell she was listening to every word that he was saying.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that.” She wished there was something she could have done to save him, to go back and to stop anything from ever happening. ey talked only for a bit longer before they decided to end the meeting and to separate until the day of the plan, in hopes not to draw attention.

Chapter 7 - e Czernobog’s Favor It was late Saturday afternoon when Ania had met Emil on Mt. Pola, Aleksy was out of sight hidden in the nearby forestation, watching from afar. Emil made his way up the cold trail that lead to the Wielki dąb With his hooded robe, Ania was unable to see the same dark, green, serpent eyes that the courier had previously seen.

“You made it,” Ania said

“I mean no disrespect Princess but why are we here?” Emil asked in his deep monotone voice.

“It’s peaceful, It’s the one place that you can see all of Tarko from. An isolated world from what we live in” She replied while looking over to the Castle visible from where she was standing.

“ at’s not it, at’s not why we’re here, so tell me the truth”

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He looked up and stared into her eyes, Unable to look away Ania felt Terror run down her spine and back up again.

“But—It—It’—It’s the truth” Her words were starting to stutter in fear.

“ ere’s someone else here isn’t there?” He asked while looking around.

“Well!? Come on out, I know you’re here!?” He yelled aloud. Aleksy debated not moving in hopes that he’d believe her but he knew she wouldn’t be able to hold it together for much longer. And so, Aleksy made his way forward o the open area where both Ania and Emil were standing.

“And who might you be?” Emil questioned.

“Aleksy Kolsek, Mr. Pruski.”

“Ah, I see you already know who I am, therefore you already know I get what I want, and I wont stop until I have it”

“Yes I am aware, However, there is something that you’re not taking into account for me. You see after my parents died, I’ve been looking for a purpose in life. I never truly found one. I learned that getting too attached to something only makes the pain worse, everything comes to an end Mr. Pruski, including you, including me, including her. e one thing that you didn’t take into account was that I’m ready to meet my end even at any time.” Alesky wasn’t fazed when he stared straight through those serpent eyes, unlike the rest, there wasn’t fear or terror just built-up anger about to explode.

“You know what, if you weren’t planning on attacking me right now like how you’re going to I’d be impressed, Hell, I might have even o ered you a job amongst the family business. A real shame you won’t be alive to see what’ll I do with my new status!” Both Emil and Aleksy made their way toward one another. As they got closer Emil pulled out a knife he hid underneath his robe and quickly lunged towards Aleksy, but not before he was able to side-step out of the way. Aleksy sent a right hook towards Emil’s left side and landed a solid blow in

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his hip, which made him drop the knife in the ankle-high grass. Emil quickly recovered and sent a returning upper-cut blow into Aleksy’s chin sending him to the ground. He quickly got on top of Aleksy and started to throw demolishing blows that anyone would have trouble blocking. Desperately, Ania runs toward Emil, ramming into him, knocking him onto his side, and allowing Aleksy to start recovering and eventually try to get up.

“Wait your turn, after I’m done with him, your next! And afterward, I’ll deal with the queen.” He barked. Ania started to angrily sob, she didn’t want her mother to get hurt and she wasn’t going to allow him to touch her. Just before Emil could make his way back to where Aleksy had been struggling to get up, A roar rang like cathedral bells throughout the sky. It had become night time and the sun was setting fast.

“Run!” Aleksy yelled, “Tell Leon to come and grab me if I’m lucky enough to survive.” Ania nodded and ran down the trail they had previously taken earlier that day. Emil, still partly distracted by the somewhat often roar, made his way towards Aleksy once more to nish the job. Aleksy, out of options and with no other ideas, had decided that he wasn’t going to go down without a ght. He had nally managed to get up and started to stumble his way towards Emil, He swung at him, landing a clean hit to his left cheek, stumbling back Emil regained his balance. Locking eyes, each man getting angrier by the second, they both rush towards one another with their sts followed closely behind they both swing. One punch connecting only milliseconds before the other, they both go down. e Earth stands still, not a sound but the breeze crosses over Mt. Pola, ere was a false sense of security which only lasted a couple of minutes.until the horrid roar was heard once more but this time closer. Aleksy, barely conscious, could see Emil’s laying body, and over it, was a dark obscure gure and its pitch black hands hovering over Emil’s chest pulling a white liquid like substance out from his chest, into the creature’s Mouth. He

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began to wonder if Anoa was ok, if she had made it to Tarko safely. He thought about her beautiful brown eyes that he wasn’t ever going to see again, it made him sad. He didn’t want to go out like this but he wasn’t going to ght if it was his time, he saw the creature turn his head towards Aleksy, moving it’s head as if it were trying to smell something. e creature, much closer now, was close to Aleksy’s face inspecting the details, and the complexity it had to o er. Fading in and out of consciousness, Aleksy heard the thumping of the creature’s footsteps heading away from where he was lying, unable to move.

Aleksy lost consciousness only to wake up in bed unsure of how he got there and who had saved him. He was sure he saw that monster, but why would it have let him live? In a daze, Aleksy made his way down into the empty tavern nding Leon, Róża, and Jerzy all waiting for him. Róża was the rst to notice Aleksy, she burst in between Leon and Jerzy who were talking about what had happened and gave him a painful but soft and welcoming hug.

“How’d I get here?” Alesky nally asked.

“Róża and Jerzy found you at Mt. Pola, what were you doing up there after curfew, you know the rules and more importantly why was someone of the Pruski family found dead?” Leon started to ask a series of questions. Aleksy had explained to everyone how he went to the castle and made a plan that never worked, and how he told Ania to run and get help. When he had mentioned Ania, both Róża and Jerzy looked at one another.

“Aleksy, no one has heard or seen the princess since you left with her and headed towards Mt. Pola” Jerzy said with a concerned look.

“ e guards that were supposed to help weren’t where you just told us, at least not when we made our way up looking for you.” he added

“So no one has seen her?” Aleksy interrupted.

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