-1Legend of the Wolf Champion

Ch2

Prologue

Sage was the only child of a village farmer named Orin. Her mother died when she was born. Since no sons were born to Orin, he treated Sage as a son. She tended the fields, fed the cows, and did all the other chores a son of a farmer would do. They lived on a farm not to far from the castle with two other farm hands. The two farm hands were Edwin and William. They were orphaned at the age of ten , Orin decided to take the brothers in and treat them as his own sons. Sage favored Edwin over William. Edwin was kind and gentle, yet strong and hard working. As for William, he was hard headed and although he was an excellent farm hand he was also a troublemaker.

Besides being a skillful farmer, Orin was a master archer. He was one of Bennett's greatest archers. So naturally he was one of the winners of the Nightfall hunter competition. He trained Sage, Edwin, and William in archery. Sage excelled the most, Edwin falling in a close second. William, being as hard headed as he was, took up sword fighting instead, becoming very talented.

Throughout the years, the three bonded. The closest to each other were Sage and Edwin. As time grew on, Edwin became more and more infatuated with Sage. William's affections also grew stronger toward Sage. What was once a happy air between Edwin and William quickly became filled with jealousy and competition.

Legend of the Wolf Champion

Ch2

The sun rose up from the mountains, which was the sign of a new day, and a sign to get out of bed and begin the day. Sage rose from her bed in her room on the second floor of her families cottage. She quickly got dressed in her britches and overalls. The clothing flattered her body more than it flattered the others in the cottage. A farm hands life was a quick paced one. Certain things had to be down at certain times. It was a routine that was burned into Sage's mind every morning for the past 15 years. Now at the age of 20, she had everything memorized.

Like every morning, Edwin was the first to rise and begin cooking breakfast. The smell of eggs and bacon emerged from the kitchen.

"good morning Edwin!" Sage sang out as she sat at the tree carved table.

Almost losing his egg in his pan, he spun around and nervously replied, "Good morning Sage, did you sleep well? I hope that you did! I cooked your eggs just the way you like them. I made sure everything was perfect for you this morning."

Sage looked at him with a queer stare. Edwin had been acting strange ever since her father talked to him about his future plans, and whether or not he was going to take a wife.

"uhh….err…thanks Edwin, you are too kind" Sage said as she snapped out of her thinking daze.

He smiled his boyish grin of satisfaction. Edwin had changed a lot since the days of their youth. His once blonde hair now darkened to a sandy blonde color. His bright blue eyes were now filled with ambition rather than with playfulness. His strong arms and body were the pillar of his life as a farm hand. He had become much more handsome now then he was a child.

As Sage dwelled on the thoughts of their youth William entered the kitchen.

"good morning all!" He yawned out as he walked in shirtless. William then caught Edwin's eye. They both sent a glare to one another. Then William sat down. William too had changed in appearance . His hair was now a dark brown and his eyes also a blue shade. His skin was a bit darker than Edwins, due to all the sun exposure he would receive from cutting the barley.

"So what's for breakfast?" William asked, as he locked eyes onto Sage.

"Edwin said he was cooking eggs and bacon" Sage replied avoiding his doe-eyed stare.

"I said I was cooking you and I eggs and bacon, William will have to fix his own." Edwin said while bent over the cooking pan."

William whipped his head around to give Edwin an evil glare. Then he just shrugged and walked out the door towards the barn to gather some eggs.

After a few moments Edwin served the breakfast to himself and Sage. As they ate Edwin kept glancing over at Sage. Whenever Sage would return the glance he would quickly look the other way.

"Sage have you ever thought about leaving this place one day. You know, like starting a life of your own." Edwin asked as they ate. Sage paused as she thought about his question.

"I haven't really given it any thought. I mean, I have no money, so where would I go?" Sage replied.

"Well if you were to get married and had enough to start out with, then would you do it?"

Sage pondered the thought for a moment as she finished her breakfast.

"I have too much to do, there is no time to think about anything."

William walked back in with three eggs. He looked at Sage then at Edwin, then back to Sage. He squinted his eyes and broke open the eggs into the pan.

"Oh Sage by the way, there is going to be an Archery contest in the village square this afternoon. Since we have to stop by the market anyway, I thought you and I could catch a glimpse of the upcoming participants of the Nightfall Hunter Competition." William said with a smile.

Edwin shot an angry look towards William. How could he ask Sage something like that while they were talking about their futures! What nerve! Edwin was going to ask her the very same thing, but he was going to ease into it, not blurt it out.

Sage sensing tension, snuck out of the room while William and Edwin were involved in a stare down battle. She knew exactly what they were both trying to get at. She was so tired of their battles over her. They were like her brothers, she never even thought about marrying either one.

Sage made her way towards the field where her father was already pulling corn off the stalks. She joined him, they both sat there in silence and pulled the husks off the corn. Her father sensed that Sage had probably snuck away from Edwin and William, so he smiled and asked no questions as they went about their farm tending.