Nolan: The Birth of a God

The first strike tore across my back and ripped a scream from my throat.

The second knocked the air from my lungs.

By the third, I couldn’t feel my legs anymore.

The people gathered around the square laughed. Their voices mixed together until they became one horrible sound. They called me a freak. A monster. Some shouted for Darius to keep going until I stopped moving.

I forced myself to lift my head.

That was when I saw her.

Lili struggled between two guards, kicking and twisting as they held her arms. Someone had stuffed a dirty rag into her mouth, but she still tried to scream through it.

There was fear in her blue eyes.

But there was something worse, too.

She thought I was going to die.

My fingers dug into the dirt.

For her, I would endure anything.

One day earlier

“Nolan, wake up!”

Lili’s voice pulled me out of the darkness.

My eyes flew open, and I sucked in a sharp breath. For a few seconds, I had no idea where I was. My heart pounded so hard it hurt, and my whole body shook beneath the thin blanket.

Then I saw the wooden walls of our shed.

Lili was leaning over me, her pale face full of worry.

“You were shaking again,” she whispered. “I thought something was hurting you.”

I pushed myself up, although my chest still felt heavy.

“It was that nightmare.”

“The same one?”

I shook my head.

“Not exactly. I saw more this time.”

Lili sat down beside me and waited.

“There was a woman,” I said. “She was really pale, and her hair was almost white. She was smiling at me.”

Lili blinked.

“That doesn’t sound very scary.”

“It wasn’t. Not at first.”

Just thinking about the rest made my stomach tighten.

“Then I couldn’t move. Not even my fingers.” I swallowed. “And Darius appeared.”

Lili’s face changed as soon as she heard his name.

“He lifted his hand,” I continued. “Then my face started burning.”

I reached up without thinking and touched the black scales covering part of my skin. They were cold and hard beneath my fingers, like smooth pieces of stone.

They had always been there.

No matter how much I hated them, they never changed.

Lili didn’t say anything. She moved closer and wrapped her arms around me.

“You’re not alone,” she whispered.

I closed my eyes and held on to her.

Whenever I saw my reflection, I saw the same thing. Black scales spreading across my face, showing everyone that I was different.

Wrong.

The people at the Baroness’s estate didn’t look at me like I was a boy. To them, I was a thing they could order around, beat, or throw away whenever they wanted.

Sometimes I wondered what would happen if I simply stopped trying.

If I went to sleep and never opened my eyes again.

But then I would think about Lili.

Her eyes.

Her smile.

And I would decide to survive one more day.

For her.

Something felt wrong from the moment I stepped outside that morning.

The forest was too quiet. There were no birds singing in the trees. Even the leaves barely moved.

Deep inside my chest, something pulsed.

Slowly.

Like a second heartbeat.

I tried to ignore it while I worked, but it stayed with me all day. Every time I stopped paying attention, it seemed to grow stronger.

By the time I returned to the shed, Lili was sitting beside the lamp, rubbing at a stain on her dress. Her hands shook slightly as she worked.

She looked up as soon as I entered.

“You look awful.”

“I’m fine.”

“What happened?”

“Nothing.”

The answer sounded false even to me.

I glanced at the small window. The trees outside stood perfectly still beneath the gray sky.

“The forest feels strange today,” I muttered. “It’s too quiet.”

Lili frowned.

“You’re scaring me.”

Before I could answer, the door flew open.

The Baroness stormed inside, followed by Tania and Darius.

I stood up at once.

“Where is it?” the Baroness shouted.

Lili froze.

“Where is what?”

“Don’t act stupid,” Tania snapped. “My golden brooch is gone, and you were the last person in my room.”

All the color disappeared from Lili’s face.

“I didn’t take it.”

The Baroness slapped her before she could say anything else.

Lili’s head jerked to the side.

Something hot rushed through me.

“Leave her alone.”

My voice came out lower than usual. Colder.

Even I barely recognized it.

The Baroness slowly turned toward me.

“Well,” she said with a sneer. “The monster has finally learned to speak.”

Darius placed one hand on the hilt of his sword.

He wanted me to do something.

Anything that would give him a reason to use it.

The Baroness looked around our tiny shed with disgust.

“Search this place. When you find the brooch, flog them both.”

Darius grinned.

He knocked over our table, kicked our blankets aside, and threw our few belongings across the floor.

It didn’t take him long.

Something gold shone between his fingers.

“Found it.”

My stomach twisted.

That wasn’t possible.

Then I looked at Tania.

She was trying not to smile.

She had put it there.

I knew it.

But knowing the truth didn’t matter. Not here.

“Ten lashes,” the Baroness said.

Lili’s legs gave way beneath her.

Ten lashes could kill her.

We both knew that.

“No.”

The word left my mouth before I could stop it.

Everyone turned toward me.

“I took it.”

“Nolan…” Lili whispered.

Tania laughed.

“You?” she said. “You’re not even allowed near the manor.”

“I sneaked inside.”

The lie came out before I had time to think about it.

“I was going to sell it in the village.”

The Baroness narrowed her eyes.

“What for?”

I looked down at Lili’s shoes. The leather was cracked, and one of the soles was coming loose.

“To buy her new ones.”

Lili stared at me.

“No. Nolan, don’t—”

“Be quiet.”

I hated speaking to her like that.

But if she kept talking, she would ruin everything.

The Baroness smiled.

It wasn’t a kind smile.

“How sweet.”

She turned to Darius.

“Twenty-four lashes.”

Lili screamed my name.

I couldn’t move.

Twenty-four.

The number filled my head until I couldn’t think about anything else.

It didn’t matter.

Lili would live.

That was all that mattered.

Morning came much too quickly.

They dragged me into the village square before the sun had fully risen. A crowd was already waiting.

Lili fought the guards holding her. She kicked and pulled against them, screaming until one of them shoved a dirty rag into her mouth.

They forced me onto my knees.

People whispered and laughed while Darius unrolled the whip behind me.

Then he bent down until his mouth was beside my ear.

“When I’m finished with you,” he whispered, “I’ll take care of her.”

For a moment, I forgot about the crowd.

I forgot about the whip.

All I could see was Lili in his hands.

Something inside me broke.

Heat burned behind my eyes.

I turned my head enough to look at him.

“I’ll kill you.”

My voice shook.

But I meant every word.

Darius laughed.

Then the whip cracked.

Pain tore through my back.

Again.

And again.

By the seventh strike, I couldn’t scream anymore. Only small, broken sounds came from my throat.

The ground moved beneath me.

Somewhere beyond the crowd, Lili collapsed between the guards.

Everything around me began to darken.

The laughter grew quieter.

Then the whole world disappeared.

“Enough.”

A man’s voice cut through the darkness.

Cold.

Strong.

A voice everyone obeyed.

The square became silent.

And when I opened my eyes again, my whole life had changed.