(Swaps to third person perspective for this chapter.)

On the ground in a small clearing lay a small boy of about 4 years of age. The haggard boy between a toddler and an adolescent lay against a small boulder. His hair is shaped by coagulated blood and dirt. His entire lower body has the same layer of decorative, dark red painting his visage. With ashen breaths he looks around as he has been doing for the last few minutes.

The boy’s eyes lack any semblance of energy as he lay in the clearing. The evergreen forest rustles as if being pet softly by the planet’s wind. In the distance a rustling is heard. The boy jumps up with alarm as a small rodent like creature scurries across one of the trees.

Suddenly a small vibration is felt in the ground. Ever so softly the rhythmic thud continues. As if being brought back to life, shocks shoot through the boy. He straightens with incredible force and points his small hands where the vibrations have been given birth. Sweat beads from the boy’s forehead as he heightens his senses to their limit.

The wind blows a drop of moisture off of his blood stained forehead and on to the ground near him. Responding in kind, the ground shook ever more with each pass of the rhythmic vibrations. In the distance a large figure spasticly approaches. It’s brown and gray fur matches the surrounding pine straw and trees. With the same spastic movements of a rat being clenched by the steel of a trap, the beast heads towards the village far behind the boy.

The boy starts to shake as the creature sniffs and snorts heavily. It directs its front towards the boy, and runs at a brisker pace. The gap between them becomes less than 100 feet when the air shivers around the boy. Rocks, pine straw, and leaves start to float around the him. He raises his arm and turns his body as if to get ready to absorb an impact.

From the boy's hand a small circular ripple that warps through everything it touches emerges. It grows to encompass the beast, and then it continues far after that. Greedily passing through trees and rocks alike, the warp in space slowly weakens. It fades after millions of pounds of earth and wood have been sentenced to death.

With abrupt speed the space encompassed by the ripple fissures and cracks. The fissures were unnoticeable to the eye, but the damage has already been done. Sand created from every object in the space starts to loudly hiss as it falls in enormous piles. The creature becomes a puddle of red and white that seeps through the sand it falls on.

The boy’s aura exudes rage and fear at the recent devastation he brought. As the multi colored sand quickly falls down, the boy collapses and holds his head. For a few moments the falling sand’s sound is replaced with a cascade of grunting and convulsing from the boy. Every few seconds the wind sounds through the trees, and the boy booms another indiscernible groan.

After a minute of spastic twitching the boy smiles wickedly. He starts to calm down, and slowly breathes. He struggles through the sensation to get out a light laugh. Another minute passes and the boy largely recovers. With a euphoric laugh he proclaims to his surroundings, “Haha! Somehow, someway… That wasn’t the worst pain I’ve ever felt!”

Suddenly, the last spark of light vanishes from the boy's eyes and he passes out.

******

Masssive edits ensued this day. Let this humble author know of treachery by the land's greatest enemies...