On a plaza in the middle of a city, all the people were currently gathered beneath the stage. On the stage, there was a middle aged man with a cold expression. His hair was black with streaks of grey in it. His long blue robes were embroidered with golden dragon emblems. His eyes were completely cold when he looked at the two people in front of him.

One of the people was a young woman, who seemed to be about twenty years old, chained and wearing tattered clothes. Signs of abuse were evident on her body and her usually beautiful face was full of disdain and disgust as she looked at the middle aged man. Her long brown hair was in disarray and she looked as though she had not seen any sort of grooming for years.

Next to the woman, was a young child. His hair was snow white, various abuse marks were also evident on his face. He looked frightful as he tried to hide behind the woman but the two guards, who were holding him, had a firm grip on him. The eyes he used to look at the middle aged man with were full of terror.

The man looked at the woman and said, “For your sins, your punishment will be execution.” He then turned his sight towards the terrified little boy and said, “You bastard, will be expelled from my Long Clan and also executed.”

Just as the middle aged man’s words ended, the woman said in a mocking tone, “Haha, the righteous and honourable Long Clan is full of such hypocritical bastards. Seems like I got to see the true face of this “oh, so honourable” Clan before my death.” She then shook her head. All the higher ups of the Clan had a face of mixed emotions on. Even the middle aged man’s face flickered and just as he was about to roar at the woman, the woman suddenly stood up.

She looked at the middle aged man with a mocking smile and said, “You may kill me but you will never touch my son!” As her words ended, she bit the tip of her tongue and a bloody mist enveloped her and rapidly spread to the edges of the stage. Everyone, except for the guards, quickly jumped back seeing this unexpected situation. Before the guards could restrain the woman again, they were dead.

*THUMP*

*THUMP*

*THUMP* Dead bodies hit the floor as the young woman broke free from her shackles and took the little boy into her arms. As the mist dissipated, all that was visible of the stage were the mother son pair and a squad of guards, that laid there on the ground dead. The middle aged man’s expression flickered as he saw the crimson swirling portal behind the woman.

The woman’s expression was completely pale and blood flowed down from the corners of her eyes and mouth. She then gently pushed the little frightened boy into the portal and just as he disappeared into the crimson portal, the young woman fell down weakly.

“NO!”

The middle aged man and the elders were all forced back by an enraged shout that came from over the horizon. In that brief moment, the portal behind the young woman closed. The young woman looked towards the horizon and saw a man with a flushed face flying over with an army following closely behind him.

The young woman then said weakly, “Father….”

Just as her words left her mouth, her eyes glazed over as she powerlessly fell to the ground.