Peter Brooks warmed his hands by the fire. It was beginning to die, and he intended to sleep shortly after the fire did so. Peter sat on a large, semi-frozen piece of oak wood, and stared into the tongues of flame spitting from the fire. The fire let out a couple, final crackles, and reduced to smoldering, hot embers. He stood up, kicking snow into the remains of the fire, and allowed his eyes to adjust to the moonlight. Peter stood in a small snow coated forest clearing. He let out a heavy sigh, and began to unroll the wrapping tied to his back. Setting the grass-made sleeping bag down on the fluffy snow, and crawling in, he noticed something on the edge of the tree line. A small figure, with two crude wings on either shoulder. Peter recognized …show more content…
Not yet, it spoke. It didn’t speak aloud, but in his head. He felt himself pulled into a cool air, and opened his eyes. He lay on the kitchen table of the ramshackle farmhouse, and two robed figures stood above him. Little Peter understood now. He saw the silhouette of their mouths move under the hoods of their robes, but knew they did not speak out loud. They spoke in thought, the language of the void. These figures were voidmancers, Spirits of lore that controlled the chaos that destroyed Oma, the void. He understood what they said, and one extended an arm, and lifted Little Peters crude cloth shirt. A black, disheveled hand extended from the sleeve of the voidmancer to Little Peter’s right. A purple flame ignited, and the mancer pressed his hand into the flesh on Little Peters chest. He wanted to scream, out of fear, out of pain, out of confusion and frustration, but he couldn’t. Little Peter still could not move. The voidmancer removed his hand, pulled the shirt back down, and disappeared in a puff of black smoke. The voidmancer on the left nodded to Little Peter, but didn’t leave so soon. It stood for a moment, its head tilted to examine Little Peter closely. It finally waved its hand through the air, and became a small pile of ash. Little Peter’s parents burst into the room, and his mother ran over to him, hugging him and crying. But his father stood in the doorway, examining Little Peter, one eyebrow raised …show more content…
Brooks was infuriated, and producing a dagger from his belt, stabbed the burn through the center. The palm of the hand. Mr. Brooks reeled backwards, screaming in agony, and clutching his eyes with his hands. Black smoke poured out from between his fingers, and flames bellowed out from beneath his vest. He succumbed to the flame quickly, and was reduced to a smoldering ash before Little Peter’s eyes. His mother froze in shock, but Peter did nothing. He still sat, unknown of what was happening around him. Mrs. Brooks snapped out of it, and scooping up a pile of ashes, began to burn in a white fire. Peter watched his mother succumb to flame, before realizing what had happened. Getting off the table, he went to his parents room, and got the mason jar of gold coins, and shoved it into a bag on his belt. He lifted his shirt, removing the knife, and noticed no blood clung to the blade. Before leaving the house, and whilst taking a final look at the gray dust on the kitchen floor, put on his finest coat. The wolf pelt felt cold against his feverish skin. He left the house, and noticed the chunk of land he stood on. It primarily held the house and some of the surrounding yard, and that was about it. The closest chunk to that, one to the south, was a 2 kilometer hop away, and Peter couldn’t make that. He knew that. But, on a chunk to the West stood a figure, right by the edge. Peter cried out to the figure, and it waved, withdrawing a bow from a holster on its back. It aimed, and