The tempest lashed across the night sky, its whistling gusts obscuring the pitiful screams that reverberated through the devastated village. Merciless rain fell in torrents, erasing the crimson splatters on the cobbled streets. In the faint, flickering light of a broken lantern, a boy knelt, his shivering hands wrapped around the chill, lifeless fingers of the only kin he had ever known.
Rael's breathing came in ragged gasps, his body rigid even as searing agony ran through his side. The cut was shallow but unrelenting, a vicious reminder of his powerlessness. His silver eyes, previously alive with prankster mischief and schemes, now held nothing but voids.
He had been warned. The elders whispered in frightened tones of the impending darkness beyond the valley. A presence too evil to mention. But nothing could have prepared him for the terrors of this night.
Shadows danced among the smoldering ruins of his house, figures shrouded in shadow, their laughter a mad hymn of anarchy. They had arrived unannounced, unmerciful, ravaging the village like beasts let loose.
Rael's hands balled into fists, his nails biting into his skin as he forced himself to stir. But what was he to do? He was frail. Helpless. A child among demons.
"Breathe, are we?" A voice, a cold and mirthful sound, slid past the rain.
Rael shuddered, his head whipping around to locate the source. A giant moved forward, his scarlet cloak unmarred by the storm. His features were hidden in the shadows, but the malignant glint in his eyes left no doubt.
"You should have died with the others," the man thought, leaning his head to one side. "Yet here you are, hanging on to life like a cockroach."
Anger sparked in Rael's despair, but his body betrayed him. He could only watch, motionless, as the man brought his sword up.
The sword flashed in the lightning, a silver curve of death coming down upon him.
And then—pain.
White-hot pain burst through his chest, taking his breath, overwhelming his senses. His eyes went blurry, the world receding into a faraway hum.
The last thing he noticed before blackness took him was the man's grin—and the strange glow of his own face in the puddle below him.
A glow that had not been there before.