by Thomas Green
Miranda pulled another dagger and a pouch of black powder. Slowly and meticulously, she cut out pieces of skin from Luna’s back and replaced it with the black powder so it couldn’t regenerate.
She’s marking me as hers. Happy her prepared speech worked, Luna cried and screamed as loud as she could, acting as if the pain shook the very core of her being. Miranda didn’t hurry. When she was done, Luna had a large symbol of the Faceless Goddess tattooed on her back. “Good luck,” she whispered into Luna’s ear, pulled the dagger out of her heart, soulstepped up to the grid and left the capsule.
I won’t cry. I won’t cry. I won’t cry. Luna broke down in tears.
Elias looked at her. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
Luna wanted to nod but couldn’t move her head. “Ye.”
Elias spread his arms and water burst out of the barrel placed outside the capsule. The liquid formed itself around Luna’s neck and wrists and then solidified into ice within an instant. The ice was almost six inches thick and filled the entire grid, grabbing at Luna like a grip of death itself, seeping the cold into her soul.
Elias loomed above her. “The cold will help with the pain. I would like to say the procedure will not hurt, but I would be lying.” He touched Luna’s forehead with a finger and traced an arcane symbol.
Pulses of pain blasted through Luna’s body, coming from her forehead while reaching every corner of her being. The pain intensified, getting stronger with every pulse.
She hoped she would faint, prayed she would fall unconscious, yet she did not. Her sight left her eyes, her ears fell deaf, her nose lost its sense of smell, and her body stopped feeling the cold. But the pain stayed. Pulse after pulse blasted through her boy, shattering whatever resolve she had. She tried to bite her tongue, but the device within her mouth stopped her. The pain became her entire world, pain, and nothing else, making her wish she died.
47
Raven
Beyond the wasteland left behind by the forest fire, Raven spent weeks wandering through the woods. He cared not for direction or purpose, admiring the richness of nature, the overflowing life around him left him. Even now, he was at a loss for words. The calmness soothed his soul, for it was so different from everything he had ever known.
Yet the beauty wasn’t without its scars. Demons. Malformed birds and twisted snakes plagued the woods, marring upon the face of the world. He killed all he met but had no feeling of reaching an end or as much as scratching the surface of their population.
One day, after the darkness fell, Raven heard a crackling of flames from among the trees. He led his horse toward the sound. At a small meadow, leaning against a tree sat a silver-haired man with a clean-shaven face. He was dressed in a black tunic and pants, had a traveling cloak wrapped around him and was drinking from a large jug.
Raven’s vision shifted. He saw a similar meadow, but one covered by dead, blood-stained grass and surrounded by gnarled trees with countless bodies impaled on the branches. Across the meadow, in the same position as the silver-haired man, sat someone else. He saw a man dressed in black armor with the symbol of a plain cross etched upon the chest, his hair crimson, and his eyes two shining emeralds.
Raven’s vision shifted back to the meadow with the silver-haired man, roasting a rabbit above a small fire.
The man smiled. “Greetings.”
Raven shook his head to clear his thoughts. “Greetings, stranger.”
“Feel free to take a seat, for I have more food than I can swallow.”
Haunted by the vision he had seen, Raven sat down next to the man.
The man arched an eyebrow. “Lost in the woods? Where are you headed, if I may ask?”
“Lake of Dreams.”
“I’m off to the Central Plains, which lay north of the lake.”
Raven smiled. “May I ask for directions?”
“Why don’t you tag along instead? Traveling alone is the most boring way to travel.”
Raven sighed. “Would prefer not to since people around me tend to end up badly.”
The stranger chuckled. “Don’t worry about that. I am a demon hunter so I will end up badly whether you are with me or not.”
Raven took a pause to consider the offer. He felt lost within the vastness of the world but had no desire to endanger anyone, not after what happened to Nibbles, Yvonne, Samantha, Luna, and Stallington. On the other hand, hunting down the demons of these woods felt like the right thing to do. His people, his worshippers, would have sure appreciated if the woods became safe for travel and forestry. After all, he was now a prince and thus it was his duty to erase all that defiled these lands. These and all others.
“Want a sip?” The man broke Raven’s thoughts and offered him a jug.
Raven took a few large gulps. The wine was strong but cheap. “I am Raven,” he said and offered the stranger his hand.
The stranger smiled and shook his hand. “Lucas.”
THE END
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To my most beloved wife and my most favorite brother.
To my least beloved wife and my least favorite brother,
both of whom happen to be the same person.