Huff huff
Aildiris's chest rose and fell as he took in deep breaths, cold air spewing from his mouth. The night was exceptionally cold but despite that he didn't slack off on his training. He had been here for hours, the sun's orange glow had retreated beyond the river's horizon way back, replaced by the night that laid still with its starry blanket.
He swung his blade relentlessly, each strike flowing into the next, him and his blade in complete synergy. His whole body ached from head to toe but he didn't stop nor did he falter.
He spun around, his blade cleaving through the air in an arc before he came to a halt.
His heart thumped frantically in his chest, breath hitched and unsteady,lungs burned from the lack of a steady breath.
"Looks like I lost track of time" he said to himself looking at his dark surroundings, the moon's glow hidden behind the clouds. His silver sword dematerialised from his hand back into his spatial ring as he proceeded to pick up his shirt from the tree.
For some reason everything felt weird to him at the moment, the cold but still air, the eerie silence of the forest, this was all a first for him. He had trained beside this small forest for nearly a week and never had it been this quiet.
It felt like the whole first was watching him and he wasn't entirely wrong.
From a distance he could spot some crimson red eyes that shimmered in the darkness, the distance between him and the pair of menacing eyes was quite much so he couldn't discern whether they belonged to a gifted or beast. Something about them crawled at his skin, making a deep feeling of unease rise in his chest.
He accessed his spatial ring and his sword began to materialise in his grasp, but at the last moment he saw the silver blade reflect a pair of crimson eyes. His cells screamed danger, on instinct and honed reflex he swung out his blade to parry whatever was aimed for him.
Clank!
The sound of collision that echoed into the night meant that he had successfully parried the strike but his disjointed shoulder showed that it had come at a cost.
He held out the urge to scream from the pain that felt unbearable, his gaze lingered at his shoulder that was bent in an unusual angle as his body soared through the air before crashing into the river.
The currents crashed into his body and amplified the pain he felt by another notch.
Logically speaking he didn't even know it was possible for someone to experience this much pain. He passed the sword through much effort to his left hand and stabbed it into the ground.
It was either that or he had to go up back to the surface and face whatever that was and he picked the former.
He looked up to the surface and saw a silhouette of a person standing by the banks of the river with those crimson red eyes staring down at him. Deep down he hoped that the person would just walk past and it seemed like luck was on his side, the silhouette tilted its head slowly as if to get a clearer view, turned around and began to walk away.
But even after he saw this he didn't want to play with his chances so he stayed underwater for quite some time. The icy water bit at his skin, his left arm's muscles already began to feel numb. The pain was no longer registering, his mind was going dark and so was his vision.
"Is this… how I die?" He asked himself, his consciousness was slipping, his thoughts a jumbled mess.
"I never got to give father an answer…he'll probably be mad" he chuckled internally before the darkness finally swallowed his vision.
**
A day before.
In a secluded part of rivermount city, a part where the state of poverty grew worse and the chances of survival were thinner than broomsticks, runic patterns began to inscribe themselves into the ground. Glowing blue symbols that grew brighter the more they intertwined themselves to form somewhat of a circle.
Brighter and brighter the symbols glowed until with a blinding flash of blue light they shone their brightest and dimmed drastically. A group clad in all black appeared right under the runic circle, their black clothing served as a covering for their smooth but pale skin. They numbered at around a hundred, gathered together but at the same time separated apart into five lesser groups of around twenty, each lesser group bearing the insignia of a clan.
Two figures looked more distinguished than the rest, a dark red cape draped down their back with the insignia of the bloodmoon clan, the brothers Derick and Frederick.
Frederick's long silky dark blue hair swayed in the wind, one hand placed on the handle of his blade as he looked into the starry night. "So this is earth…seems peaceful" he muttered.
"Better be, cause I'll crush the skull of the first puny human that angers me" Derick commented from the side.
Frederick threw him a short glance before resuming to stare at the dark sky. The soft winds brushed past his face like a gentle touch and with them came a scent.
"Humans"
It was undeniable, the strong urge he felt to give chase, the desire within him that wanted to act in instincts, it was surely them.
From the looks of it the others hadn't noticed their presence, even though they were close by and getting closer, fast.
Frederick already began to think of counter measures when the two out of the nobles began to act out, they had caught the scent and were rushing towards it. Derick, who notices their movements, rushes forward and immobilizes them by breaking their arms, their gut wrenching scream a testament to his brutality.
But while he pinned those two the rest ran out in rabid formation, instincts overwhelming common sense. Frederick moved fast, the situation demanded it. Appearing at their front in an instant his calm but stern voice echoed a command.
"Stop"