Chapter 1
Running through the dark and humid woods where scarce light glittered through the trees was a boy. A young courageous boy destined for the greatest things. Small for his age with raven black hair and the brightest blue eyes. Running for his life and not knowing when to stop. A courageous boy called Blue... Blue Corpse
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I sweated profusely. A five-year-old boy could only run so fast, even if adrenaline swirled around in me. The lowgrowing bushes cut my legs and leaves stuck to my hair, adding to my ever-growing distress.
I bent over suddenly, gasping for air, nearly face planting the ground from stopping so suddenly. Still, in shock and still in fear, I knew I couldn’t run anymore. I looked around with a quivering body, being lost in the woods, the least of my concerns right now.
I was safe for now though. I was pretty sure I was absolutely miles away from that dreaded place. I had run every day for six months. Some would say I was probably as fit as a butcher’s dog by now, but I certainly didn’t feel it. Six months had flown by as I had feared for my life. Pure terror had never once left my system in that time.
Six months alone had taught me independence in this big, cruel world. Taught me how to keep safe and know the essentials like what type of plants were edible and not so edible. Of course, I remembered a lot of things from my mother. She had always been into herbs and natural remedies. Mother...The thought of her sent a lone tear down my cheek and my gut clenched. She didn’t deserve what she got. Neither of my parents did.
I fell to my knees before passing out on the damp forest floor, filled to the brim with exhaustion and exasperation. Extraordinary, how wild emotions could make you feel so drained.
I woke up blurry eyed and felt pain in my back. My dry throat and stiff muscles felt drained of energy. I could feel that I was laying on something hard, the back of my head pulsed in pain. I must’ve been laying here for a long time to feel it. Or, I whacked my head pretty hard in the forest. Wait! I looked around before starting to panic. I wasn’t in the forest. The stone roof above me told me that much. It seemed like some sort of cave, so large to the extent that I thought it echoed my breathing.
I could hear strings of incoherent words surrounding me and as I regained my senses, I could hear them more and more. It sounded less like low buzzing now and clearer.
I sat up but freaked out when I couldn’t feel my limbs. It was terrifying how not being able to move made me want to move more than I ever had in my life. My limbs wouldn’t come to life. But how? Had I been kidnapped for something? My heart raced and bile rose as I looked around me. Figures were standing in a circle around me, weathered cloaks concealing their faces. What were they doing to me? It looked like some sort of ritual, maybe by a cult or something. I looked down at my arms, feeling my body tingling. I gasped. Golden flecks raced across my skin, healing my scrapes and cuts as they travelled. They felt warm and made a weird, relaxed feeling build up inside of me.
Fixated, I watched, but then it all stopped. The tiny dancing golden sparks had disappeared, but I once again had control over my limbs. Flexing them in relief, I was happier knowing I could actually run away on something now.
One of the hooded figures stepped forward. He looked the same as the others, but this one felt superior to the rest. The hooded figure slowly removed his cloak to show something I wasn’t expecting.
A man with a disfigured face; I couldn’t take my eyes off the terrifying feature that spread across one side. A huge burn had withered and chipped the skin, making him look intimidating, but at the same time ancient. Curly grey hair framed his face, covered with bald patches. The wrinkles on his face were deep crevices, suggesting the man had been through a lot of stress in his life.
“We cast a healing spell on you young one,” the man spoke, his voice booming around the cave. Something in his voice made him sound like he had many years of knowledge behind him.
“Why?” I whimpered, shaking at the sudden speech of this imposing stranger with the mysterious face. Why would anyone want to help me?
“Because of who you are. And what you will become,” he said softly, giving me a small smile to try to calm me down. The latter did nothing other than make me feel more and more terrified. Of course, I expected the guy in the cult to speak vaguely. How would that keep me calm?
“I don’t understand what you mean,” I whispered, matching the quiet tone of the stranger. My voice had abandoned me and cowardly wouldn’t work. I was only left with the power of whispering.
“You will become a great king and the saviour of our kind,” he slowly explained, letting each word cut through the air, each word he said ringing in my ears and rattling my brain.
