Prologue
“Why couldn’t you leave us be?”
Ray lay crumpled on the forest floor, his right arm clinging to his abdomen, his shirt soaked. “I wasn’t the one who started this.” He grunted.
“She told me she was going to find someone else, I just didn’t think it was going to be that quickly. Personally, I don’t think that's fair.” Hellion said, standing over him as he adjusted his circle lenses. He carefully pushed them back onto the bridge of his nose with a sniff. “Especially someone who’s barely even past childhood.”
“You disgust me.” Ray sputtered, his eyes nearly swollen shut, his lips beginning to swell. There was no part of his body that was not flooded with pain. “You have no business pursuing someone . . . someone who doesn’t want you.”
“I say otherwise. I say I can pursue anyone I’d like, especially if they don’t know what’s best for them.” The tall man bent over, staring into what little eyes he could see behind the blanket of messy white hair and swollen flesh of his enemy. “I know what’s best for her; you will never understand that.”
“You know nothing.” The young mage growled, his voice climbing through his lips right before the sharp pain of a knife pierced his chest. He groped at the hilt with his hands, his fingers broken and throbbing. He could barely even touch it before he fell weak onto his back.
“I’m going to find that little bastard and kill him.” Hellion whispered in his ear, a grin pulling his lips back. “As for Nakushi, I’ll make sure she knows how to better organize her priorities.”
Ray sighed as he stared up into the twilight sky, the sun shining one last blanket of orange and red before it sunk beneath the horizon. He heard the footsteps of his wife’s ex-husband getting farther and farther away, each crunch of the dead undergrowth fainter until there was nothing.
Nakushi sucked in her breath as the daylight disappeared, the trees becoming more looming and ominous than before. In her right arm sat a small child, his eyes shut tightly with tears seeping through his lids. He was whimpering, pressed deep into the crook of her arm as she jogged steadily between the birch trees. She looked down at him, her calves and ankles aching tremendously with each step. She knew she had to be faster, more resilient; with each quiet moment her heart sank further, hope nothing but a shadow in the back of her mind.
“Wait a moment,” She murmured, her ears pricking up with the sound of footsteps. She shoved her hand into the pocket of her tattered robes and drew out a tuft of wool, here eyes widening, flickering from one object to the next. She looked all around herself, steadying her body as the adrenaline flooded her system. She could feel the sparks between her fingers, her mouth drying as her left arm tingled with electricity. “Where are you?” She gasped, holding back tears.
“You can’t save yourself.” A voice drifted out of the darkness, a thicket of locust and pine trees shadowing a figure that seemed to change the air around him into thick, slow moving waves.
“You knew this would happen, and you brought it on yourself anyway. Why do you continue to run from something so inevitable?”
“I did what I had to do.” She said, beginning to tremble as her mind sharpened. “I will do what I have to do every single time I have the chance.”
The figure approached her, the waves growing around him, stretching into the sky. “Come back with me, Nakushi. Maybe I can learn to forgive you? You can’t run from this forever.”
“No,” She said, holding up her left hand. “But I can save him from you, Hellion.”
The waves shot towards her, moisture in the air condensing until it was suffocating. She held the wool in her fingers tightly, letting out a muffled scream as she snapped her fingers. Electricity sparked through the air, using his waves as conduits. Hellion gasped in surprise before being struck down by a bolt of lightning.
Nakushi choked, steading herself as her child cried out. She stumbled away, her left arm sizzling with fire as she beat it against her robes. “It’s okay Renous! It’s okay! I am going to keep you safe! You are safe with me, I promise. I’m going to find you someplace safe to stay!” She sobbed, swallowing air as quickly as she could, forcing herself into a sprint. She could barely see, each tree appearing with but seconds for her to avoid it. The branches whipped against her face, caught her heels and robes, ripping and tearing into her. “I’m going to save you, believe me!”
The child buried himself deeper into her arm, clutching her clothing as her cradled hand swayed him back and forth. He could feel every stumble, every rock she tripped over, his eyes still clenched shut. He did not care where they were going, he could care less if he was safe; his eyes turned upwards for a moment, peeking at the face of his mother and letting an ocean of tears cascade down his chubby cheeks. He had to look at her, no matter how hard it was. He had to take in every crease, every scar, the shape and color of her eyes, the form of her lips. She was a beautiful ebony skinned Tenui, a very angular and thin race of humanoids. Her hair was dark, and reminded him of the nights he had spent staring into the sky; as deep and rich as the shadows behind his eyelids.
“Don’t leave me.” He said, his voice small and timid.
“You will be safe, I promise!” She said, gasping as each foot was pushed in front of the other. She had developed a cramp in her side that was forcing her to bend over in pain, no matter how hard she was trying to ignore it. Her body was leaning forward a bit too much when she had kicked a crooked root of a tree, sending her falling forward down a steep incline. They tumbled, Renous being held tightly between her arms as every obstacle slammed into her back and shoulders. A rather sharp rock jutting out of the side of the hill collided with her hip, making her yell as they hit the bottom. Her arms relaxed, letting her child roll away as she let out an ear splitting scream, clutching her hip.
“Goddamn it! Goddamn this fucking place!” She sobbed, choking on air as the pain of her broken bone engulfed her mind.
“Mum!” Renous said softly, putting a hand on her shoulder, crying uncontrollably. “Mum please, he’s coming! Get up! Please!”
With what little control she had, she looked up at him, grabbing his face with a shaken and bloody hand. “Run!” She said, groaning loudly.
“Run away! Leave me! Run until you can’t run anymore!” Nakushi shrieked, shoving him backwards by his head.
“I can’t!” He wailed.
“Fucking run! Run now!” She growed, her face twisting in rage and anger. “You do as I fucking tell you! Run now or I’ll kill you before he gets his hands on you!”
Renous’ eyes widened as he was taken back, watching as his mother drew a knife out of her belt. “Run.” She said, crawling towards him with the one arm she had left to use. “I’ll kill you if I can reach you. Do you want that? Do you want me to kill you?”
The boy shoved his cries into the back of his throat and began to scramble away, his legs weak but suitable enough for him to get a head start.
“Don’t stop!” Nakushi said with a sob. “Run my son! Save yourself from us!”
Renous sprinted through the forest, letting out gasp after strangled gasp as his hands whipped at his tear filled eyes. He could barely see but he would not let that stop him. This was his last moment to live, there was no way someone as small as he could escape someone as powerful as Hellion. He had been told of the horrible things he had done to his mother. He could only imagine what horrible things he would do if he caught him. He had to run, he had to keep going or nothing would matter. Even if he failed, he had to try, it was the only thing left that he could do.
His small hands grasped onto a low hanging branch and tore it back, falling off a lip of mud into a shallow pond. He heard something scramble away from him, making his head quickly look to see what it was.
There was a boy and a girl who looked very similar to his mother and himself, clutching each other across the pond. They looked sickly and underfed, barely fat enough to hide their bones.
“Are you running too? Did you escape?” One asked, her voice hushed. “How did you get out?”
“What are you talking about?” Renous wiped the pond water from his face and scrambled to his feet. He did not have much time for this. “Escaped from what? Hellion? Is he looking for you too?”
There was the sound of a horn in the distance, and the barking of dogs. “NO!” The little girl screamed. “You told them where we were! You gave us away!” She shrieked, grasping the arm of her friend and dragging him into the forest, their ragged clothes whipping against their ankles.
Renous forced himself into a jog once again, it the fastest thing he could do. He did not know if Hellion was looking for them too but that did not matter. He had very little time, so little he bet that pause had done him in. He should have kept running, should have just ignored them. The sound of dogs was getting closer, and so were the voices of multiple men. When did Hellion have enough time to get them together? He had not seen any dogs with him when they were attacked, it did not make sense!
He made a sharp turn to the right, sliding under an overturned log into a pile of leaves, his little body hidden as the thumping of horses' hooves sped towards him. The dogs were out in front, running past him as no less than five horses galloped after them. On their back sat armored men, shouting at each other and blowing a horn. He kept his head down until they became almost inaudible, not wanting to risk the chance that Hellion was in league with them.
It was at this point that he noticed how badly his stomach hurt, every gasp of breath almost meaningless, providing no relief whatsoever. He bent over and retched on the forest floor, gasping and trembling as he stared at the contents of his stomach. Did he have time to rest? Was this it? Was he going to die before he was even caught? He sure felt like he may die; never once had his body been in so much pain.
Looking upwards, he could see a small light in the distance. He squinted, noticing it at some sort of light post, too fancy for just a torch. He forced himself to shuffle near it, pressing against his stomach with his fist, trying to prevent another wretch that was held in the back of his throat. He could feel how badly his ankles and knees hurt, burning with each step he took. His mind kept slipping back to the face of his mother, her visage twisted in pain as she carried him, tears staining her cheeks, her hair whipping against her eyes as she tried to push through.
She had threatened to kill him.
“Who goes there?” A voice boomed as a figure walked under the lamp post, a rifle in hand. He was a tall man with a leathery face, his beard and hair a silvery grey. “Hey!” He shouted, Renous stopping in his tracks.
“Please-” Renous gasped, falling to his knees, retching once again even though there was barely anything left in his stomach. “Please . . .”
“Oh name of the Gods!” The man set down his rifle and ran to him, his large hands grabbing him by the shoulders. “Son, we need to get you inside.”
Ray’s palm grasped onto the hilt of the knife, pulling it slowly out of his chest with every ounce of strength he had left. He let out a yell as it fell to the forest floor, his blood trickling down his abdomen. “Nakushi . . .” He gasped. “Renous . . . I’m coming.”
He stood stooped over the knife, staring at it until his vision cleared enough for him to see. It was pitch black, the moon behind clouds, blanketing the entire forest in black velvet. He pushed his left foot forward, grunting loudly as he followed with his right. He had to find them, there was nothing left for him to do but find them. He walked very carefully, his mind groggy and filled with smoke. He squinted at everything that was near him, the swelling of his eyes allowing him to see but a few feet in front of his path.
There was the sound of a child’s wail, the barking of dogs mixing with snarls and growls. He turned his eyes forwards, trying his best to see the small figure in front of him. It was a boy in tattered clothes, six or seven dogs surrounding his small body as he collapsed on the ground. “Renous!” He screamed, his voice bellowing into an echo. From behind him came the rush of horses, speeding past him towards the boy. One man focused his attention on Ray, using the hilt of his sword to crack him in the skull. The mage fell once again into the underbrush, his body too weak to try and force itself onto its feet once again.
There he lay, watching as the armored men on the horses goaded their dogs into attacking the child. He was bitten three times, thrown to the right and left in a savage display. Ray let out a strangled sob “Renous, my boy!”.
One of the soldiers dismounted his horse and beat the dogs backwards, grabbing the child by the arm as he screamed. He picked him up and placed him in a sack, slinging it over the saddle of his horse before mounting once again.
“NO!” Ray wailed, digging his fingers into the earth, trying with all of his will to pull himself towards them. It was no use, however, the men soon galloped away, the dogs following silently after.
“I will find you!” The young mage sobbed, his face crying into the soil beneath him. “I will find you, I promise . . .”
