Day 1

On the forest floor a boy lay, surrounded by layers of dead leaves. The muted brown of the leaves slowly turned to bright red after being soaked by his blood. The only sound that could be heard was his shallow breathing.

A sliver of light managed to reach through the dense canopy above him. Almost a meter away from the unconscious boy, the light shone onto the bark of a black tree. Strangely, the trees bark was slowly disintegrating into red particles only visible for a second after they appeared.

Almost unnoticeable was the slight blood red hue around Cain’s injured forearm. The particles seemed to be attracted to the blood inside his body through the wound. Suddenly the silence was broken by the dry heaving of the boy, a loud moan caused his eyes to flutter open.

His mind was blank due to the pain of his wound and although he didn't realise it at the time, the tingly sensation was from absorbing the mysterious red particles. Still disoriented from the pain of his arms, he looked around and could barely see anything in the darkness.

I managed to escape Cain thought to himself.

Dragging himself to the tree on his left while wheezing pitifully from the effort, he leaned his back on the cold bark. The bleeding hadn't stopped, but it had slowed down. Cain ripped off part of his breeches and wrapped it around his left forearm.

That should do for now

The adrenaline had not only numbed his body but numbed his mind. Cain was solely focused on surviving, even with his weak, now eleven year old body.

He lay there sinking in and out of consciousness, fainting almost immediately after waking up. It took almost half a day before he could open his eyes and stay awake without passing out from the pain.

Even after his body stabilised, his strength hadn’t. Cain lost too much blood, getting up was a plight in itself. After an hour of straining his muscles he was rewarded by managing to get his legs underneath him while leaning heavily on the tree.

I can’t go into the city, I will die for sure. He mused to himself.

He didn’t know if the crazy man from the city was there, of if he was still raining hell into the ground. But he avoided it instinctively, his father dying there just made him even surer of his decision.

The choice presented between going back and staying in the expanse was an easy one to make for the boy. At least in the dark expanse he would die quickly as fodder for some beast’s stomach. In the city, if there weren’t any crazy cultivators, there could be bandits.

Looting and pillaging was common in areas with no authority. If a cull like him was caught he could be squashed like an ant.

All these dangers were avoided through his grief, but a mirical hidden in the curse revealed itself.

Looking down at his forearm Cain grinded his teeth in pain, both mental and physical.

“AAARRGHG,” he screamed to the empty forest. The small echoes that returned where eerily twisted and layered.

Cain barely noticed this and angrily promised himself something.

I'll find whoever did this to my dad and I will kill them, no matter how long it takes, no matter who I have to go through, even if I die!

His hand held the azure bracelet on his wrist, an oath to his dead father. Holding his injured arm with his other, he walked deeper into the dark expanse.

Θ Δ ∪ ∀Δ ΞΘ Δ ∪ ∀Δ ΞΘ Δ ∪ ∀Δ ΞΘ Δ ∪ ∀Δ ΞΘ Δ ∪ ∀Δ ΞΘ Δ ∪ ∀Δ ΞΘ Δ ∪ ∀Δ Ξ

The further Cain walked, the more life he felt. It wasn't using his eyes, in fact, he walked blindly for almost an hour. He constantly bumped into trees and winced in pain, while at the back of his mind there was an itch. It wasn't until he was too exhausted to go any further he realised what it was.

What is that? Cain lay on the forest floor and tried to sleep. But unlike before he couldn't fall unconscious no matter how hard he tried. The constant tingling in the back of his head refused him such a necessity.

Still laying down he thought to himself. Father used to heal himself from wounds using the natural energy in the air. Attempting to do the same, he relaxed into the meditative state that he did before his life changed.

His mind faded into a clear soul sea, completely calm. Wait , Cain thought to himself as he realised that a slow stream of red particles was gathering over the top of the soul sea. The particles were forming a barely visible mist for as far as the eye could see.

Where are they coming from.

Following the thickest stream, he moved his mind away from his soul sea and began to travel outwards.

Cain opened his eyes wide and looked down at his forearm.

It’s being sucked through my wounds. Trying to stop the flow he realised he could sense the particles over ten meters around him.

That’s almost ten times as far as when I sensed natural energy . Still unable to stop the red particles from moving into him, he shrugged shoulders and smiled. He gained a valuable tool in the Dark Expanse.

..

Deep breaths were being drawn in by the child hiding behind the tree as he intently watched a bush. Cain had been staring at the same bushes for a while but was afraid to move forward.

As he was trekking forward he discovered a patch of trees that were not as densely packed. A little light somehow managed to break the canopy and land on the shrubbery.

Using his recently discovered sense of the environment he discovered something hidden inside the bushes. I can’t make out what it is. But it isn’t alive, that’s for sure! He thought to himself as carefully approached the bushes slow as a snail.

Moving aside the shrubbery Cain discovered a bright orange coloured fruit hiding inside. It was a stark difference from the dark motley colours of the surrounding trees.

Cain was sure some sort of monster would drop down from the towering trees and casually take away the food, not to mention his weak little life. But his stomach growled and he realised he hadn't eaten for at least a day.

I'm too hungry to care about a loose beast.

Looking around him he quickly detached every fruit growing from the inconspicuous bunch of plants. Obviously his little stomach won over his big fear of death. Backing away from the light, a single thought occupied the boy's mind as he ran.

Run.

(Author: Obviously)

..

From the shadows a figure watched the receding back of the boy.

A deep growl shook the ground.

..

Cain continued to run until his legs burned. Finally, he sat down on the lush floor of the forest. Bringing the strange fruit to his eyes he rotated it, inspecting it from all angles. Weird, I've never this before.

Although he lived a far from lavish lifestyle on the outskirts of what once was a great city, he still thought he possessed basic knowledge of at least fruits.

Steeling himself from the potentially nasty effects, he took a hesitant bite of the fruit and gasped. Sugary sweet juices burst into his mouth and dribbled down his chin. Almost instantly Cain devoured the fruit in his hand and started on the second. A few minutes later he lay back against the ground with a satisfied little burp, three fruits still left in his small hands.

I have to save these for later, who know when I will get to eat more of these delicious fruits again.

The shambles that his life had become took its toll and falling unconscious was a natural coping mechanism. Unable to stop his eyes from closing, the fear from falling asleep in the most dangerous place in the Airlenn continent faded away.

Θ Δ ∪ ∀Δ ΞΘ Δ ∪ ∀Δ ΞΘ Δ ∪ ∀Δ ΞΘ Δ ∪ ∀Δ ΞΘ Δ ∪ ∀Δ ΞΘ Δ ∪ ∀Δ ΞΘ Δ ∪ ∀Δ Ξ

Day 2

Cain suddenly jolted awake with a gasp, it felt like he tripped in his slumber. Tearing up and grasping at the bracelet at his wrist.

The thought reminded him of a story his father told him years ago.

After a night of seeing his son tossing turning in his sleep and being jolted in the same way, Toke told him ‘he was saved’.

"Saved from what?" he could remember asking curiously.

"From those that have transcended the world to become angels. Their job is to make sure that people who die in their sleep have a peaceful passage. But sometimes when they remove the soul from the body and fly up into the heavens, a mistake is made. If you wake up with a start, it means a clumsy angel came down to take your soul but dropped it back into your body on the way up!"

Taking solace in the memory, Cain slowly calmed down. I fell asleep in the dark expanse and nothing happened. It can't be that bad, I will definitely be able to get to the other side.

Still not completely at ease Cain looked around;

Something else is wrong.

As he got up from where he lay, Cain discovered that the fruits he had found earlier were gone. He definitely saved them to survive.

The tiniest sounds in the trees around him seemed much louder and the bushes felt like they moved, hiding monstrosities of evil.

"Rewlwllll" a strange mewl broke the silence of the forest at the same time a branch behind him cracked.