Dom sighed as he moved through the forest just outside of town, sneakers crunching softly against loose gravel and fallen leaves scattered across the winding dirt path.
Shafts of afternoon sunlight slipped through the thick canopy overhead, breaking apart against the forest floor in fractured streaks of gold and shadow.
He kicked the same stone ahead of him, as if bruising it might somehow ease the irritation simmering in his chest.
Then he kicked it again…and again.
The rock skipped across the dirt before bouncing off an exposed root.
"I really, really hate that guy," He muttered bitterly, finally abandoning the stone to hop over a fallen tree trunk slick with moss and dirt.
His brows furrowed as a thought surfaced, unwelcome but persistent.
Even though they were closer, they couldn't sense that guy's magic. Why?
The memory replayed itself in uncomfortable detail-- the shifting ground, the glow on the lackey's finger.
The silence afterward.
Nobody noticed… Nobody believed him.
A smirk lowly tugged at his lips despite himself.
Maybe sensing other people's magic is my special ability.
The thought lightened his mood just enough for him to finally notice the apple tree ahead.
Its branches sagged beneath the weight of ripe fruit, red apples gleaming through the leaves like polished jewels.
Dom's annoyance softened slightly. "Well…" He muttered under his breath. "Since I can't prove they cheated…"
He rolled up his sleeves and grabbed the trunk.
"I guess I just have to suck it up."
His fingers dug into the rough bark as he climbed.
"Besides," He grunted, hauling himself onto a thick branch, "… proudly facing villains like Matt is what a Great Magic Knight like the Emperor would do."
Leaves rustled softly around him as he settled onto the branch and began plucking apples one by one.
Each fruit landed below with a soft thud against the grass.
"Maybe I'll bring everyone two or three each," He chuckled, reaching for another. "Just to show how awesome I am—"
He froze as a sense of dread suddenly washed over him.
A violent eruption of wings exploded overhead.
Birds burst from the surrounding trees all at once, shrieking as they scattered wildly through the sky.
Dom's body stiffened, every muscle locking as his heart skipped a beat.
The branch beneath him creaked softly as he slowly looked around, eyes darting nervously.
Just seconds ago, everything had felt fine—peaceful, even.
But now… something felt wrong.
The air had grown heavy somehow, pressing against his skin like invisible hands.
The silence left behind after the birds fled was worse than the noise itself.
Almost as if the entire forest itself was holding its breath, and for some reason, Dom couldn't shake the sensation of being watched.
Another burst of wings erupted deeper within the woods, like they were fleeing from something unseen.
That was enough for him.
Several apples slipped from his grasp as he hurriedly climbed down the tree, movements suddenly sloppy with panic.
"I don't care what they say," He muttered, breath quickening. "I'm not dying because of some stupid bet."
Once he was halfway down… a familiar voice echoed between the trees.
"Dom!"
Dom looked over his shoulder just as Devon stumbled through the undergrowth, breathing hard.
"There you are!" Devon huffed, bending over with his hands on his knees. "I've been looking for like five minutes."
"I told you not to follow me," Dom grumbled as he landed on the dirt with a thud.
"I ignored you." Devon shot back.
Dom sighed. "I noticed."
Devon scratched the back of his head with a cheeky smile.
"You know... you didn't have to actually come." Dom scoffed, then looked away. "I lost."
"So what?"
"A bet's a bet."
Devon frowned.
"No."
Dom raised a brow, curious.
"No. Matt cheated." Devon said, his expression stern. "I know he did. So why are you acting like you're the one who did something wrong?"
Dom sighed again, even more heavily. "Because nobody else saw it, and if nobody believes you..." He shrugged weakly, "...then complaining just sounds like excuses."
Devon stared at him for a long moment. "I believed you."
Dom flinched, then smiled at his friend. "...Thanks."
Devon smiled back, before shaking his head as he remembered something. "Oh yeah, there's another reason I came; I saw Matt fo-"
"Well, well, well…"
A certain grating voice echoed behind them, drawing their attention to Matt and his lackey emerging from the shade.
"I knew being magic-less is hard, but I didn't think you'd fail at apple picking too. I thought that was your speciality, Snow white."
His lackey snickered behind him.
"Seriously?!" Dom finally snapped. "What the hell's your problem? You pick on me, you cheat, and now you won't even let me work in peace?" His fists clenched tightly at his sides. "What did I ever do to you?!"
Matt's grin faded.
Something uglier settled across his face instead as he stepped closer, towering over Dom.
"I can't stand you." He said coldly. "You have no affinity, you're poor, you're a nobody…" His jaw tightened. "And yet everyone likes you... "
The words came out sharper now.
"I have everything you don't, and nobody wants to be my friend. What could a low-grade, magicless twat like you have that I possibly don't?"
Dom blinked, utterly speechless.
For a second, his anger faded into genuine disbelief at Matt's words.
Then--
"Seriously?" He laughed incredulously. "That's what this is about?"
He shook his head slowly, grin widening.
"Dude. You really are a royal dumbass."
Matt's eye twitched. "That's it." He snapped as he raised his arms, the wind suddenly curling around his body, stirring the leaves around his feet. "I'm tired of you always running that dirty mouth."
The air around him distorted as mana gathered.
"I'll show you what real magic is."
Dom instinctively stepped backward, noticing that the lackey also raised his hand, mana beginning to flicker around them as they prepared his own spell.
Devon stood by Dom's side, his mana flaring in response, but Dom had already come to a realization.
This wasn't a game anymore… it was something that could genuinely hurt him.
And with no unique magic affinity of his own, he was at a disadvantage. A head-on fight would surely end in defeat.
He drew a steadying breath, already planning his tactic…
"Hey! What the hell are you boys doing here?!"
They turned to find three uniformed guards marching towards them.
"Didn't your parents tell you not to enter the woods?" The squad captain said, tiny flames erupting from her skin as she glared at them.
Devon raised his hands and suppressed his mana. "We're sorry. We didn't know." He quickly replied.
"Hey, isn't that the Chief's kid?" The second guard asked, pointing to Matt, who clicked his tongue and suppressed his magic now that there were witnesses.
Dom sighed with relief just as the captain stepped up to them. "You need to get back into town. This place is not safe."
"What do you mean?" Devon asked.
"There's been reports of disappearances recently, so we're here to investigate." The third guard explained.
As Matt and the others shared a confused stare, Dom's eyes widened slightly as he remembered the conversation at the restaurant and the monster at large.
The Captain shot a glare at the guard for casually revealing such terrifying information to these children before turning her gaze to them.
"We'll escort you back to the-"
A blood-curdling scream cut the conversation short before going completely silent.
For a moment, nobody moved, spoke, or even blinked…
The experienced guards were trying to locate the source of that scream while the children were trying to understand what it signified…
"Captain…" The second guard said as he partially transformed his hand into that of a beast.
Just as a body suddenly rocketed into a nearby tree with a bone-crunching force.
The Captain's eyes widened as she immediately recognized the corpse to be her right-hand man who was covering another sector.
Then her senses picked up something else.
She turned and flinched as she found the hooded figure standing in their midst… she had no idea when or how he got there… and it took the others a second more to even notice his presence.
But once sighted, they instinctively knew that he was dangerous.
What… what is that? Dom thought as heavy, green mana poured off the man's body like poison, flooding all of his senses so violently that his stomach twisted.
He quickly covered his mouth, forcibly suppressing the urge to vomit. He glanced at the other boys, who appeared mostly fine… because they failed to notice it.
The guards noticed it too, a split second earlier, as they'd already taken up defensive stances, their spells aimed and ready… but the man only focused his attention on the children right in front of him.
"Back off, weirdo," Matt scoffed, trying to sound confident. "You'd better stay away from me, or I'll tell my dad. He's the town Chief."
"Step away from the kids with your hands up!" The Captain barked.
The hooded man ignored her at first, then simply smirked. "I think not," He said as he straightened to his full height, the wind kicking up his cloak, instantly drawing their attention to fresh blood dripping down its fabric.
As the man stepped closer, Matt raised an arm, irritation flashing across his face. "I said back off, weirdo!" He shouted, his voice now shaky.
The man took another step, and Matt's mana flared as he swung his arm forward.
"Matt, Stop!" Dom shouted.
But his spell had already fired.
Wind exploded outward from his hand, the blast slamming into the man hard enough to shake nearby trees, leaves spiraling violently into the air.
"I said… go away," Matt declared as he prepared another spell—then froze once he realized that the man remained still, his appearance completely unharmed.
"Another Wind Elemental…" His emerald eyes glowed as he raised his hand. "My turn."
He causally swung his arm… just like Matt did, and a whistle ripped through the forest in an instant.
Dom barely processed it before the massive tree behind him split clean in half. The upper trunk slowly slid sideways and crashed into the ground with a deafening thud.
But Dom's eyes weren't on the tree… neither were they on the already bleeding cut made on his left cheek where the spell had grazed him…
They were locked onto Matt.
Or rather… what was left of him.
Matt stared blankly at the space where his left arm had been. Blood then sprayed from the stump a second later, just as the severed limb hit the ground with a wet thud.
For one horrible moment--
Nobody moved.
Then Matt screamed.
The sound tore through the forest.
"MY HAND! MY HAND!" He collapsed into the dirt, clutching the bleeding stump as blood soaked through his fingers and splattered across the leaves beneath him.
Then, either driven by terror or loyalty, the lackey screamed as he turned to the stranger, conjuring a jagged stone from his shaky hand and firing it like a bullet.
"NO! DON'T MOVE!"
The guards shouted, but the mage was faster as he casually slapped the spell aside like a harmless pebble and immediately sent another wave.
Wind screamed through the gap, severing both the boy's attacking arm and head clean off. Blood sprayed across the air in a violent arc as his body collapsed lifelessly into the dirt.
Devon fell to the floor, screaming in terror while the guards sprang into action.
"FORMATION!" The Captain roared.
Flames erupted around her fists as the other two guards moved instantly, years of training taking over where fear had failed.
One transformed his arms into massive beast-like claws while the other drew twin enchanted blades, mana crackling along their edges.
"GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE, KIDS!" The Captain barked without looking back.
But nobody moved… they couldn't… their legs refused to obey.
The hooded man smiled.
"So..."
Green mana seeped from his body like poisonous mist.
"...which one of you wants to die first?"
The Captain attacked and the other guards followed without hesitation.
Spells exploded, bodies sent flying, flesh ripped apart… all resulting in a bloody massacre…
Dom's reality had suddenly become a nightmare… and as he watched the innocent reinforcements being slaughtered like animals, he spoke a phrase no child should even think of.
"I don't want to die."