Moriam

The winter that year was fierce, and the summer before it was cold and dry. People barely made ends meet, not wanting to die. Life was hard for everyone, so why was the orphan boy so comfortable? Dark thoughts began to enter people's heads: that this boy was casting spells, that he wanted to wipe out the village. What else could they think? His parents had died young: his father was a shaman, the village respected him, his mother was also capable of something, and then they vanished. Perhaps a deep melancholy overwhelmed the boy, which is why it wanted to kill everyone. The village then drove out the boy, very young, fifteen years old. The child was indeed capable, though he didn't know how to use his power at all, he just felt it at times a little more than others. He wandered through the forest alone, barefoot, in light clothing that would have kept him warm only in early autumn. Hunting is not easy, especially in winter, especially in the cold, especially when you have no one to rely on in the other village. You rode through the forest at a trot, a black horse, but in a snowy forest, it is not the most practical option. And what can you do when you only have one horse, a beloved one, which has served you faithfully for so many years! There was little game: it was daytime, after all, and why would it be active in winter? Among the trees and spruce copses, you stop believing your eyes: on a log sat a young man, very young, barefoot, wearing an open light cape with strange earrings. And it would be fine if he were scared or confused, but he sat with a peaceful look, looking at the branch where the raven was perched, and the bird looked straight at him, and the bird looked at him. His lips left, the skin on his hands and feet turned red, but he still sat calmly. "Hey, who are you?" you shouted, stepping a little closer to him, but keeping your distance. Your first and only thought so far: it's a spirit. Maybe it was trying to prey on the traveler, maybe it was just taking a stroll, but it's unlikely that a normal person would be wandering through the forest in such a disguise, right? "Me? I'm Moriam," he turned his black eyes to you, looking a little surprised, but still calm, so expectant.