Prologue
“Come back here! Don’t try to run Marthan T’an!” shouted an angry voice.
Marthan ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He ran through one of Aldrila’s many beautiful and pristine parks in the hopes of evading his pursuers. He turned back to see that his pursuers were closing in on him, fast. Like him, they were human. It’s no good, they’re going to catch up to me. Fighting off his pursuers wasn’t an option as well as they were much larger in size compared to him. Much larger.
The lead pursuer leapt towards Marthan, tackling him down to the ground. “Got you, you snitch!” He signalled the two other pursuers to hold down Marthan’s arms so he could not defend himself. He punched Marthan in the face. “That’s for turning me into the school’s disciplinary board for cheating!” He punched Marthan again. This time, it was harder, much harder. “That’s for getting me expelled!” Marthan’s lip was already starting to bleed due to the two punches he already took.
“I had to turn you in, Tyrral. It was the right thing to do,” Marthan said, writhing in pain. “There is no honour in cheating.”
“Now you insult my honour?” Tyrral fumed before punching Marthan again. Tyrral’s friends just stood there and laughed. Tyrral prepared to hit Marthan again, but he stopped when a faint emerald aura began to envelop Marthan’s body.
“T-T-Tyrral, what’s happening to him?” asked one of Tyrral’s friends.
“I-I-I think it’s something bad,” his other friend whispered.
“Silence! The both of you,” barked Tyrral. He got ready to hit Marthan again, but before he could lay a finger on Marthan, he and his accomplices were thrown back a few metres by a burst of emerald energy.
After a few moments, Tyrall and his two accomplices staggered to their feet. Neither of them knew what had happened. Standing in front of them was Marthan who had managed to get back on his feet. He was different. The faint emerald aura that surrounded him was no longer faint. It was bright, immensely bright. His eyes also had an emerald glow. His injuries were also healing.
“I’m getting out of here!” screamed one of Tyrral’s accomplices before bolting off.
“T-Tyrral, we have to go,” suggested the other accomplice that remained.
Tyrral stared at Marthan, making eye contact with the young man’s glowing emerald eyes. Tyrral swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat before running away. He clenched his fist tightly to try and stop it from trembling.
“T-Tyrral, let’s just go!” shrieked his remaining accomplice. Taking his friend’s advice, Tyrral, ran. His accomplice followed suit.
Marthan was now alone. Free from danger. He touched his lip and found that the swelling was receding and that the bleeding had stopped. He examined the rest of his body and found it to be surrounded by a pulsating emerald aura. “What’s happening to me?” muttered Marthan to himself.
