"Hahaha! My grandson is a genius!"

Before it can get any further my parents bring me over to the table.

On the table is a cake with black frosting, it's decorated with blue flowers and white stars. In the center of the cake is a candle. The candle is white and is shaped into a number one.

My father lights the candle as lights go dark, the small candle paints the room in a dim orange hue.

The group starts to sing

"Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday dear Collin, Happy birthday to you!"

I didn't think I would have people genuinely sing happy birthday to me again. I feel happy, surrounded by family, being loved, it's a nice feeling.

"Make a wish Sweety"

I close my eyes and make a wish

I wish to keep being happy with my family, I wish for my family to be safe, I wish for them to live long and happy lives.

I open my eyes

"Blow out the candle to make your wish come true"

I take a deep breath, I exhale with everything I have and I see the candle flame dance and flicker.

It twists and turns before losing the battle and succumbing to my breath.

Smoke rises from the wick, it drifts upward and dissipates into the air.

Everyone starts clapping and smiling, today was a day of celebration.

Boom!

The windows shatter

The house shakes as a few people lose their balance and fall.

"Collin!" My mother holds me and my father goes over to the window to check outside

"Oh my god...."

"Leon what's happening?!"

She starts to walk over with me in her arms

My father turns around and puts his hand up, indicating that we should stop moving. He then puts a finger to lips telling everyone to be quiet.

He carefully backs away from the window, making sure to avoid making any noise.

*Skreeech*

Everyone covered their ears instinctively. Some fall to the ground unconscious, with blood coming out of their ears.

It was the cry of a bird of prey. These birds are hunters and dangerous, but unless it was right next to us it shouldn't have been that strong of a cry.

My father leads the group away from the window and into the training room. As we walk past I catch a glimpse of a shadow.

A shadow that could encompass a small town. After a few seconds it passed, and a draft came rushing in through the windowless wall.

Wood and shards of glass are picked up and shot across the room like bullets.

As my sight gets blocked by the metal wall of the training room my father quickly locks the door before sitting down drenched in a cold sweat.

My mother rushes to my father.

"Leon, are you okay? What was out there?"

"....It was a cursed falcon"

"Impossible!" My uncle jumps in, disbelief and doubt paints his face

"Cursed falcons only have a 1-meter wingspan and arent able to cause that much damage"

"This one was different, it was big. Bigger than anything I've seen before. It blocked out the sun. It's a monster that shouldn't exist"

Silence descends upon the group.

"We need to either wait this out or get the hell out of here", My grandfather quickly takes control of the group.

But before anyone could respond another loud boom was heard. Everyone falls to the ground as the ground shakes.

My father crawls over to and shields my mother and me.

The rumbling stops

"We can't stay here, the house cant support the damage," My father says as he helps my mother up

Bang!

The training room door bursts open as 3 people in grey robes step inside. They all have burly figures and have weird masks on.

"Goodnight Everyone!" One of the robed men tosses a can which immediately starts hissing with smoke starts blasting out the top. My uncle rushes towards the grey-robed men.

He throws a kick towards the person who threw the can

The man grabs his leg before twisting it, causing my uncle to fall face first.

"Stop messing around"

The other robed men pull out guns and point them at us.

Thud Thud

My group starts to pass out and we realize that the can was more than a smokescreen, it was also knock-out gas.

One of the men walk towards me and pries me away from my mother's limp arms

Before I lose consciousness, I feel myself being lifted.

"I got the kid"

"Let's go, the masters are waiting"

My vision turns black as I lose consciousness

______________________________________________________

Rumble Rumble

I wake up and immediately start scanning my unfamiliar surroundings.

I am in a white cloth bed, but I'm not alone

There's a little girl with a brown ponytail and golden eyes playing with a doll next to me. She looks up and we make eye contact.

The girl runs towards the entrance

"Mom! The baby's awake!"

Soon enough a mature woman with brown hair walks into the room.

"Oh my! Look how scared he is! Lana, you startled him!"

"But Mom, he's not even crying!"

"Look at his eyes, see how guarded they are?"

The little girl stares into my eyes before nodding silently

"Lana, ask your brother to bring over a bucket of water and a towel"

Lana runs out the door and disappears as the wooden door closes behind her.

The mature woman picks me up and carries me in her arms.

I look into her golden eyes and she starts to comfort me

"Don't worry dear, you're safe now."

I could care less about my safety, I want to go back to my family, I want to know if they're safe.

"I can feel how sad and anxious you are. You are in a safe place, My husband saved you from those human traffickers."

Something inside me breaks and I start to cry

"Waaaa!"

"Let it out, there you go. Crying is good for baby's like you"

I couldn't stop crying for a few minutes. In those few minutes, this woman had managed to completely gain my trust. While I was wary of my situation, I couldn't help but believe her.

Soon a young boy walks in carrying a bucket full of water and a clean white towel.

"Mom, is that the baby dad found?" He asks before going in to poke my cheek

smack

The woman lightly smacks her son's hand before answering

"Yes Tao and don't be rude. Go inform the matriarch that the baby is awake"

"ok" He walks away while also muttering that I was just a baby under his breath

The woman puts me down before taking off my ripped black robe. She puts it to the side before taking my diaper off and cleaning me with the wet towel.

I try to clear my mind of the humiliation but there's nothing I can do so I try not to struggle.

After a while, she's finished wiping me down. She takes a set of clean white robes from under the crib and puts it on me.

The cloth is soft but it doesn't seem to be cotton or wool. I start tugging at the new clothes and try to feel what it's made out of.

"Dear, that's Kandron Fibers. One of purer quality in fact." She picks me up while I was inspecting my clothes.

We walk out the door and the light blinds me. After my eyes adjust I couldn't believe what I was looking at.