“The sun… is so bright.” I say while lying under the ever watchful ancient oak. The stories the stately hardwood, along with the sights it has witnessed would likely fill a tome.

I shake my head from the groggy fog, stretching my body as I rise. The sickening pops and the ache of bruised, torn ligaments assault my nerves. Propping myself up against the sturdy aged timber helps. But, the splitting headache from the malt liquor bottle smashed against my skull during the bar fight the night before doesn’t help me stay up in the slightest.

I gaze at my reflection in the nearby babbling brook. The first thing that comes to mind I quietly utter, “I look like shit.”.

I inspect the masculine image staring back at me in the bubbling creek which certainly doesn’t help the dampened mood I am in. In regards to appearance, my typically shaggy, royal-blue and shoulder length hair was looking more like a freaking bird’s nest, less like actual hair. My skin resembles a piece of chalk, much paler than normal. The six-foot-five athletic frame I predominately sustain, shows evidence of depravity from the lack of nutrients it requires to function properly. The familiar cobalt blue of my eyes have disappeared, now donning an ashen sheen, with streaks of red veins encompassing the whites. In addition, the clothes on my back are fossilized, stiff, covered in blood and dirt! Dully noted by my rigid stance.

What would my sister think if she saw me?

I abruptly attempt to shut down the line of questioning. Just as I struggle ridding myself of the sentiment , my brain nose dives into even more depressive thoughts.

“Ugh!” I sigh in defeat.

I lift my trembling hand up to the left side of my face. My finger slowly follows the outline, feeling the scar embedded over my left eye and continues down my cheek. With that, the memories flood my mind…

For three years my sister and I have been on the run. Running from outer districts to inner quadrants, and never staying in one space for long. This is the result of her being hunted by a malicious Okun, Abigor! This tyrant of a beast wanted my sister to be his wife. With that one simple thought in mind, he invaded our land and killed our people, our parents, and almost me…. But before the attackers caught me, Sis smashed into the building with her titanic strength. She rescued me in the nick of time utilizing every ounce of her expert blade abilities. We have been on the run ever since.

I was sixteen years old when the nightmare began. My inner universe was full of cataclysmic disarray, present circumstance to blame. Although we were never disheartened, because we still had each other. What happened after, turned my world red.

Weeks ago, the monsters finally found us. After three years of being so careful of attracting unwanted attention while running and meticulously hiding out, they found us. Then she was gone. They took her away.

Yet, the one detail which threatens my psyche persistently since that fateful cruel incident is…

I was too weak to even fight!

That imperfection plagues me relentlessly, barring my ability to ever forget.

Being different from everyone was always my normal. My body weaker, my talent, abysmal. And, don’t even get me started on my use of magic, which by the way is nil. It seems every other person in the universe can use some form of magic. Whether it’s used to augment one’s body, or to control literally the fabric of reality, everyone other being has some type of usable magic.

Everyone except me…

The worse part is, I come from a long line of magic warriors. My sister being the greatest since the founding of our family. We have a reputation. The inhabitants in several solar systems fear The Bloods on account of being infamous for fighting till only the blood smeared on our blades remained. No spoils for the weary. Nevertheless, my weakness, my crippled soul, was a hinderance when my dear sister needed me the most…

I. Couldn’t. Do. Anything.

I slap myself across the face, screeching in the process, “Argh!.” Resuming the reality of my current situation with the stinging pain.

Taking a deep breath, I do my damndest to center myself in the here and now. Breathing out, I brood inside, “How can I be depressed right now?”

Recalling the true purpose of my journey I remind myself, “I’m on a mission.”

A long week of voyaging across this land, with the single motivation of finding a warrior of great strength. A champion who will aid in tracking down and rescuing my sister, before it’s too late!

With renewed vigor and optimism, I toss around my shoulders the long black leather coat, inserting one arm at a time, noticing the softness of the leather on my weary frame. Equipped with my personally crafted double edged-sword adorned with a handle of black leather binding, securing it into the scabbard at my side. It’s perfectly balanced and my weapon of choice.

I turn to begin the hike down the sloping hill towards the forrest in the distance as the needle covered path crunch beneath my heavy boots. A dense thicket filled to the brim with black oaks. The sprawling trees carry a natural feature, as if a fiery inferno engulfed the bark causing a burnt appearance. Hence the name, Forest of the Burnt-Wood.

Suddenly, a realization for the need to eat pops into my head. Suddenly being the operative word, as my gut screamed out a crazy sound. A racket a stomach shouldn’t have the capacity to compose. Rumbling loudly, it was akin to the likes of a growl deriving from a giant beast. The uncomfortable ache in my stomach causes a wince as I grab at the noisy part of anatomy and continue moving forward.

Moving into the meadow I ponder aloud, “What to eat, what to eat? Eggs, yes that sounds good. If I could just find a nice juicy Coc-kaloo I’d be set.” I chuckle aloud. “Yes that’s the ticket but not likely to happen today. Growl! What the, how can a stomach make such a rumpus?”

Gazing out onto the vast grassland, my boots stop abruptly and plant into the soft ashen colored grass below. My body automatically react before my wondering brain catches up. Standing stock still a few yards away is a tiny soot fox. The animal’s supple obsidian fur fluffed out, it was on alert. The foxes eyes penetrated into mine, emanating the fear and panic circling the meadow. A predator was nearby.

In a split second, I glance around behind me and see the gnarly beast staring me down. The ominous crimson glowing eyes are threatening, radiating silently. Scarlet blood daggers assessing its prey. The needle sharp claws protruding from its paws are as long as my arms and screams torture to anyone who crosses the wild behemoths menacing thirteen foot body. The animal is covered in a deep pitch black coat. I have never seen anything like it in my life. Not even the soot fox has fur that atramentous. Instantly, I know what this beast is… and I am terrified.

“A Void Wolf,” whispering slightly as to not stir the beast. Top apex predator of this planet.

Careful not to move I watch intently as the wolf sizes me up. This creature not only fast, but also brutally strong, and extremely intelligent. The Void Wolf has the inherent power to vanish and reappear at will. There is no known physical weapon which can hurt them, unless it was infused with magic, and only specific kinds of magic at that!

Not to mention, the creature is a formidable foe to defeat even with magic. I have known only one person to face a Void Wolf and live. That was my sister. Unfortunately she was not here with me. The memory causes my heart to ache for a brief moment.

Back to the task at hand, or beast, “Besides, I can’t even fight a regular wolf magic beast without getting a few injuries, let alone fight this monster,” I puff out faintly, careful not to draw any more attention to myself. I search my mind for all my options from previous beast encounters.

Before a choice can be made or move executed, a haughty laugh booms out across the open grove.

“Hahaha,” A snicker ensuring the individual cackling was immensely amused by the situation. So much so, that they couldn’t keep it from escaping.

As if I could not be more frightened, the words that came next made my hair stand on end.

“This is it?! This is the prey that Lord Abigor wanted dead? I feel insulted that he would send ME to hunt such an unworthy foe,” the beast bellowed. His anger apparent with each sneering word he spoke.

I, on the other hand, was scared but equally parts pissed when he called me unworthy to even kill! I understand I’m weak, lived with that tidbit of information all my short life. However, to kick me while I’m down is just an asshole thing to do!

The fury buzzed through me like lightening hitting a tree. Supersonic and furious.My anger flared so brightly it overtook my fear and I yelled out, “OH YEAH! WELL FUCK YOU! YOU OVERSIZED LAP ACCESSORY!”

The words were shocking, even to myself. Anger issues, check. It has gotten me into trouble now and again, but not THAT bad.

“What do you want? You want to eat me? We'll come on BEAST! Give it your best shot,” I holler at the wolf as he takes one massive paw step closer.

As I reflect on the meaning of my over the top outrage, and egging the Void Wolf on, I hear the chuckle again. My head jerks up to gawk at the wolf, radiating a huge smile. His grin grew to just under his pointed ears, stocked full of razor sharp teeth. The Void Wolf’s eyes permeated triumph and glee sending a chill racing down my spine.

With a sickly excited tone he said “Oh..ho..ho! So the worm on the ground dares to yell at the bird in the sky! Kukuku…. How amusing!”

The voice echoed universally around us. At a slow pace, the creature begins prowling towards me maintaining the unnaturally massive grin on his hideous face. Contemplating a way out of the situation became paramount.

“Think man! The mission. You don’t want to go down like this,” I mutter, backing away while trying to maintain my composure.

All of the sudden, the Void Wolf halts its forward progress. He gazes around the area perplexed and clearly bothered by a mysterious turbulence. Puzzled myself as to why or what he is doing, I watch on bated breath. He appears to be listening to some unknown disturbance. Something I clearly can not discern or detect. The clearing maintained utter silence. Not a single bird, insect, or creature resonated in the vicinity. Not an iota of sound.

Then I hear it, faint, and barely noticeable. The longer we wait, the louder the inexplicable noise became, as if it is slowly getting closer. After a few minutes, the sound was loud enough to distinguish. I listened carefully to confirm that the voice was a man. There were no words or grunts, just full blown wailing.

“Ahhhhhhhhh,” like the man is falling from a great height.

Unable to figure out how it is possible. The scream crescendoes to a point at which it reverberates from above. Minimum mountain altitude it seems, but the nearest mountain is at least a good 100 klicks away. None of this make sense. My brain goes into overload of the how’s and why’s. Yet, how can we hear the man scream then?

I vocalize, “If he isn’t falling from a mountain. Then that only leaves…”

At the same time, the overgrown K-9 and I peer up into the heavens to catch sight of a light-blue dot speeding towards the ground. The dot is getting bigger and bigger as it pummels closer and closer.

Falling fast from the heavens is a man with wild fashioned blue hair. His laser blue eyes as bright as the sky are a stark contrast against his porcelain skin. The man’s white pants are securely tucked into black long boots, while his torso clothed only in a sleeveless fur-trimmed coat! The destination of his landing? X marks the spot, right where we are standing!

My head swivels quickly to eyeball the wolf as he returns a similar expression as mine. We both understand what the other is thinking, because we are thinking exactly the same thing…...

What the fuu…

In the next instant, everything goes dark.