Leif Denien Chapter 7

Leif Denien
Chapter 7


Leif bent down and gripped its jaws in his hands and pulled its fangs out. Poison was dripping from its jaws. Terror gripped him as Leif realized that he had been poisoned. Leif held the serpent's jaws closed and sliced its belly open. The snake relaxed its muscles and died. Leif grabbed his leg, and put pressure on the wound. Venom leaked out of the injury. Leif wiped it away. Leif felt the venom beginning to take effect. If the snake only ate live prey, then its venom must not kill, but rather put to sleep. At least he had killed the snake. Leif hoped that no other animal would come along to finish off the job. Leif felt drowsy and lied down. His head was spinning. He couldn't concentrate; the venom soon had completely put him to sleep.

When Leif awoke he couldn't feel his limbs. He tested moving his fingers. One moved. That was progress. Leif was completely paralyzed. He couldn't open his eyes. He heard something moving around him. Oh boy. It sounded like two pieces of parchment being rubbed together. The sound continued. There was either one big creature or many little ones. Leif forced his eyes open. What he saw terrified him. There were hundreds of snakes surrounding him. Leif's leg had swollen to the size of a log. Leif moved his other fingers, which offered virtually no consolation.

The snakes must have supposed him dead, because when he moved, they suddenly became interested in eating him. Two of them lifted their heads off of the ground, reared back and ready for attack. Leif dared not move, which wasn't very hard because he couldn't move anyways! They watched him closely for what felt like hours, swaying back and forth. When they finally decided he was dead, the snakes went back to patrolling their nest for real food. Leif knew that he WAS real food, but what they didn't know didn't hurt him. Some of them left in search of prey.

Leif's stomach growled. If he was hungry, they were probably hungry. There was a deer that was walking to the right of the snake pit. That was the last mistake it would ever make. All of the serpents slithered over and surrounded the deer. He figured he could make his escape while they were occupied with the deer. He pulled himself up after carefully moving each of his limbs to make sure that they were working. A few of the cobras realized that he was alive and came back to eat him. They were so fast that all Leif could do was jump and try to pull himself out of the pit.

His muscles wouldn't work. He was too weak. The venom had done its job. Two of the serpents lunged at his legs trying to bite them. Leif moved his legs upward, just out of reach. They snapped in vain. He started to slip. If he did, he would die. Leif stretched his had up to the top of the pit and secured himself. He pulled his legs up and found a foothold. He jumped up out of the pit and rolled out of the reach of those few serpents. He found the skin of the snake he had killed. The insides had been eaten by the other snakes, but the outer skin had been saved. Leif looked back. The serpents were looking forward to eating him. Leif grabbed the snake skin and ran. They chased him for quite awhile, but soon came off of his trail.

Leif slowed down to a walk. He was sweating profusely. Leif's leg had begun to heal. The swelling wasn't as terrible as it had been. He heard a noise behind him and turned to face the unknown enemy. It was a single cobra. Leif was too close to run. He would have to kill it or be killed. Leif pulled his sword out of its sheath and lowered himself to the ground. He moved his sword around in small circles. The snake followed the sword like a hawk. It lashed out at it, and Lief drove his sword across its belly. It fell to the ground dead. Two! Leif had not only retrieved one snake skin for the Trial, but two!

Someone jumped out of the bushes and snatched the snake which he had just killed. It was Yurken. He was stealing his snake! He had to catch up to him before he got out of the forest. He soon caught up to Yurken. They were neck and neck. Leif tried, but couldn’t get in front of Yurken. Leif picked up speed. He began to win!

Yurken threw a rock and Leif stumbled. His injured leg tightened and he fell. Dust went in his nose and in his eyes. Leif jumped up and stumbled around for something to hold onto, coughing.

Leif leaned against a tree and cleared the dust from his eyes. When he could finally see, he threw himself toward the exit. Yurken must have been far ahead of him. Leif put his all into this final sprint. He wasn’t going to make it! After all that hard work. Leif clenched his fists. A tingling feeling came over him. He felt a chill run from his fingertips throughout his entire body.

Suddenly, he was darting through the forest, dodging trees, and jumping over bushes faster than he had ever run in his life. He saw Yurken. He was only a few yards from the exit. Leif picked up a rock with his mind and threw it at Yurken’s leg. Yurken stumbled and fell through the exit just as Leif jumped through himself. A horn sounded. Maryon was standing there. His eyes widened.

“Both…” he furrowed his brow. “They both win!” “Three points awarded to each of you.”

“You cheater!” Leif shouted. “You stole my snake skin!”

“I’m no cheater,” Yurken smirked. “Maryon said you can do anything to win!”

“I’m afraid he’s right.” Maryon nodded with closed eyes.

Zach came out of the forest with his head down. Two competitions and no points for him. He had it tough. His father was pushing him to win. What would he say when his father learned he had failed another trial.

“Zach, try again,” Leif said trying to comfort him.

“No,” Zach said disappointed. “It’s over for me. You have five points and Yurken has three. I have nothing.”

“Zach! I will help you win,” Leif said sternly.

“Thanks, but that would be cheating.” Zach closed his eyes.

“Fine! Stay for at least one more and then I will let you quit. Are you going to let Yurken beat you?”

“Why not? He’s beaten me at everything else.”

“Just one more shot!”

“Fine,” Zach said turning back around.

“Well done, all of you!” Maryon raised his hands in the air. “Leif, you better get yourself to a doctor,” Maryon said pointing at Leif’s leg.

“Alright,” Leif acknowledged. On his way to the doctors hut, he stopped by Herald’s shop.

"Oh, everyone will understand your absence when they see this!" Herald laughed when he saw the snake skin. Herald’s home had beautiful necklaces and jewelry made from the arquill feathers that Leif sold to him. "Oh, how wonderful. You are a very wonderful boy! Oh, what a wonderful day!"

"I would like fifty gold pieces for the snake skin."

"Here you are, my boy!" Herald cried. He counted out the gold pieces in groups of ten until he reached one fifty. He put them into a large sack and gave them to Leif. Herald grinned and Leif lifted the bag up. It weighed a ton! He had never been so rich in his life!

"Thanks Herald," Leif said now grinning himself.

“No, thank you!”

Leif left and headed for the town doctor. Leif entered the small house that served as a hospital. The doctor was filing some papers. He looked up and saw Leif's leg.

"Oh, do come in!" he said. "Have a seat on this table here," he said pointing to an old wooden table. Leif sat down and the doctor bent down examining the wound. "Been toying around with snakes have you?" he said a look of worry on his face. "Take this every morning for the next three days. By that time, you will be completely better." The doctor reached into a cupboard and took out an antidote. "This will be twenty gold pieces, please."

Leif counted out twenty from is fifty and gave it to the doctor.

"Thank you, sir," Leif said.

"You are very welcome. Just be more careful, will you?" the doctor asked.

"You got it," Leif said. He got up off the table and went over to the door. "Thanks again," Leif said as he left.

Leif then walked home. He couldn't wait to tell his mother what had happened. Then the thought occurred to him that if it appeared too dangerous, his mother might not let him continue the trials. He decided not to fill her in on all of the details. When he got home, he entered quietly. He put the large bag of coins down and took off his boots. Leif was glad to relieve himself of the coins, because of their enormous weight. His mother came into the room. She had tears running down her face. She cried with joy and ran up to him. She embraced him in a hug that only a mother could give. Leif held her back.

"You're home!" She said with relief. "Come into the kitchen and get something to eat." Leif followed her in, and was given a piece of bread and two carrots. He devoured them in seconds. When his stomach was filled, he then explained MOST of what happened. She cried in relief and held him again. Leif then showed her the profits of his labor. Her eyes widened in astonishment. Leif could provide for his mother.

“Leif, where have you been?” Jason came in to the room.

“This trial took a bit longer, but I won again!”

“Congratulations, son!” he smiled warmly and shook his sons hand. “You are growing into a man.”


The next morning, Leif got up for breakfast as usual, but something didn’t seem quite right.

"Where's dad?" he asked Amelia as she was preparing the meal.

"He’s out getting the paper. She dished up the bacon and set it on the table.

Leif's father entered the room, already looking at the paper. It was usually bound when he walked in, but this time he already had it unwrapped. Leif grabbed for some bacon, but his mother gave him a look.

"What's in the paper?" She asked with a touch of worry.

"War has broken out," he said with a choke in his voice. Amelia let out a gasp. Leif stood up not knowing what to do. They were all dreading this moment. Now it would be the responsibility of one man per household to join the army. Leif wanted to do it. He didn't want his father to go off to a war and not return.

"Father, I will go," Leif said.

"No," was all his father responded with. Amelia started to cry. She got up and hugged the only two men in her life. "I must go," he said with a touch of sorrow in his voice. "Hopefully the draft won't come for another week." Suddenly, a thunder of horses rode past and a low pitched horn blew.

"One man from every household come forward to accept the draft!" a man called out. Amelia held on to Jason, not letting go. Leif had a sick feeling in his stomach. He ran out the back door and into the forest. Tears were welling up inside of him. He would lose his father. He knew that he would. He felt foolish for leaving his family at that moment so he ran back into the house. His father and mother were still in each other's arms.

"Goodbye, father," Leif said painfully. His father embraced his only child.

"Goodbye, my son," He said quietly. "Watch over your mother, and take care of this household."

"Yes, father," Leif said with a tear rolling down his cheek. But now he would have to be strong. His father left without another word. There were hundreds of men on horseback. The village stableman was bringing more horses for the new recruits. The leader of these men was a man dressed in silver armor with a brilliant white steed. The rest of the men had plain brown horses with an occasional black one. The leader had a look that demanded honor and respect. He was making a mark for each man on his list. Once he was satisfied, he stepped down from his horse.

"Now, each of you take a horse and follow my lead! I will take you through two more villages and then to training camp!" he commanded.

Leif's father grabbed a brown steed that had a shiny coat. Another man tried to convince Jason to give him the horse, but Jason just gave him a stern look. The man backed off. Being a blacksmith, Jason was well built and not someone to mess around with. Leif walked up to give his father a last goodbye. The two men stood face to face. Leif remembered wanting to be like his dad in every way. Now they were equal in height. Just a week before Leif attempted to compare height but his father was taller by a solid inch. Leif gave his father a hug and without saying another word, went back to his weeping mother. The sky was a dark gray color with black clouds, unlike when morning was first born. The soldiers rode off with a thunder of hooves and left only dust settling to the ground.