"MOOOOOOOM, MOOOM, MOOOOM,"
A voice cut through the blazing night, and a child knelt in front of what remained of his house. Amid the rubble lay a woman, her hair a mess, a face charred beyond recognition, yet her eyes screamed defiance against her fate; she gazed at her child,
"It's okay....shhhh, Kael, mom's taking a bit of a rest. I'll be okay."
The boy, still in tears, held her mother's hand, afraid to let go, around him scenes of carnage and destruction were laid bare. Flames rose to the skies, as if challenging the heavens themselves. Remains of what was once a peaceful village, now turned into horror incarnate, bodies everywhere, air reeking of the scent of blood and wood.
"Boss, over here, I found another," a voice cut through
"Kael...I need you to run.... far away as possible....follow the river.....it will bring you safety," the woman said.
"I'm not leaving you, Mom, I can carry you," the boy protested.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"
From the smoke, a figure walked forward. Clad in a long bear fur coat, his steed was midnight black, sword hanging on the side, drenched in crimson, his eyes red as the fire surrounding him, his lackeys danced around him like moths to a flame, he smiled, teeth brown as copper but sharper than any sword. A scar ran along his face, adding to his already gruesome appearance. He looked towards the mother, then to the boy, his gaze lingering on the boy for a while, especially on the piece of pitch black stone resting on the boy's hand.
He dismounted his horse and, with measured steps and a smile on his face, walked towards the woman. The woman was in tatters, her clothes in rags, showcasing her body. Her legs bent in awkward shapes. To the boy, the man was death incarnate, but he stood up in front of him, fist clenched, ready to protect his mother.
The man continued forward, uncaring of the child's pitiful act of bravery, he raised his sword to the sky, lightning flashing, illuminating the night sky. Then he swung.....
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The boys, eyes shot open
"Every time, the same dream...."
The boy clutched the shard on his neck, seeking comfort in it cold touch. Night still hung over the boy, casting it's shadow over the world. The boy sat up on his bed, at least what he deemed as such, it was but a crude imitation of the thing, but it served his purpose. The boy's raven black hair hung over his face, his eyes dark. Scars littered his body, serving as a reminder of his place in society as a bottom feeder.
"Mother.." he whispered
He stood and walked over to the opposite side of the room, grabbed his possessions, a dagger, and a shortsword. He put on the hood of his robe and walked out the door. He was in an inn, he walked downstairs to the reception.
At the reception a young woman stood there, seemed to be eighteen, brown locks fell by the side of her hair. Not pretty by any measure of the word, but she had her own unique charm.
"Your awake! Would you like something for breakfast?"
Breakfast, the boy thought, it had been long since the boy ate a proper breakfast meal, but he decided he would treat himself today, after all today was quite a special day for him.
"I'll take some bread, cheese and goat stew. water on the side"
"alright, that'll be 3 silvers."
The boy winced at the mention of the price, this amount would last him all week, but he paid nonetheless.
As he awaited his meal on his table, he listened on the gossip from mercenaries, you never knew what helpful information you could find from such conversations.
"Ey, you hear the emperor is raising taxes again." one mercenary with sword on his back said to his group 3.
"Oh, for fucks sake, thats the third time this year alone." a buff, gruff man responded
"Can't be helped, he needs the funds, the imperium is growing day by day. At this rate, they'll declare war tomorrow." The third responded, a bald man with a scar on his dome.
"Oh, fuck them cunts. And what their emperor thinking anyway, isn't he breaking the treaty?" the gruff man asked the two.
"Word on the street is their emperor is being controlled by someone." the first responded once mor
"Bullshit, what thing is powerful enough to control a champion level being?" the baldy, rebutted.
"I don't know, but we better get out of this empire. I had the guilds have started moving to the elves. let's go there i wonder how those elven whores taste." the first said
"like grass and dirt probably." they all burst out laughing.
The boy's food had arrived. He paid, no heed to the men's rambling. True it might be, but he didn't have the strength needed to care. He savored the food, he had for in his line of work her didn't know when next he would eat as such again.