A fantastic short story from a new writer, Silver, about a retired war veteran living in an elven settlement at the edge of a forest.

From Silver:

Hello! This is Silver and I am kinda new to writing.

English is not my native tongue so if you find any grammar or spelling mistakes, don’t hesitate to tell me.

Any suggestions, criticisms or advice are welcomed, feel free to comment!

As long as I can remember,  Mr. Alboise has been living in our settlement in his little cottage at the edge of the forest.

He was old for a human, especially to me as a fourteen-year-old elven boy. Wrinkles were visible on his scarred face, his hair was mostly grey, and he kept a big bushy beard and mustache that most elvish men don’t have and can’t grow.

Yet despite his age, he was still a huge and strong person, almost a head taller than my father. I often saw him either jogging around the settlement’s outskirts in the morning, chopping up logs for firewood, or working on his little farm.

And sometimes I saw him sitting at his front door, with a pipe in his mouth, huffing and puffing smoke, waving at passing neighbors or curious children (including me) that were lurking around his cottage.

I once asked my father about Mr. Alboise, why would an old human live in an elvish settlement, instead of in the city with his kind? Then, father told me this:

“Mr Alboise was once a warrior in the human army. During the last demonic incursion, he saved Lord Lorail from a host of cyclops, so as gratitude, Lord Lorail offered Mr. Alboise to live here after his retirement, which he accepted.”

This made me more curious about him, so one day, I mustered all my courage (and my friends), and visited him. He might have looked scary at first but was a surprisingly friendly person.

Mr Alboise quickly became more and more popular amongst us children, though none of us knew how to properly pronounce his full name, we just called him “Big Al” or “Old Al”. His elvish was mediocre, to say the least, but it was good enough to fascinate us with adventures and war stories of his own: the last demon incursion, the confederate civil wars, the war against the Midland elves, and skirmishes against the Sidisian giants.

“I once threw a bomb, killed two orcs with it, then it exploded”;

———————

“You know, your old Alboise was very popular amongst the ladies. Once there was a dark elf lady, who……oh, wait, I should save this story for when you little ones are older.”;

———————

“That giant was quick but I was quicker, with nothing but a stone I bashed him right in the head…”

“Last time you said it was a stick Mr. Alboise!”

“Did I? You must have misheard, I’ve always said it was a big rock.”;

———————

“Have I ever told you, children, I once killed a Minotaur with my bare hands and teeth? That’s right, a 10-foot-tall Minotaur! With my teeth!”

Then he showed us his golden tooth that replaced one of his natural ones, which he claimed broke when he ripped out the Minotaur’s throat.

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