A young tired boy, no older than 15, with dark brown hair and emerald green eyes crouched behind a tree as he watched another man scream in agony after being mauled at by a pack of wolves. The boy watched helplessly as he clenched his fist with the daggers he had aqquired recently.
In his mind he felt guilty for not being able to help the man from the attack…but what other choice did he have? He had only two rusty daggers as a line of defense for Christ sake!
"Hayase!" A girls voice whispered from behind.
The boy who was named Hayase turned around to see his childhood bestfriend, Amber, a girl with long dark red hair and dark red eyes.
"What is it?!" Hayase responded
Amber stood up from her hiding position as she looked at him
"We have to do something! And we have to do it fast!" She urged
Although tired and exhausted Amber was not a person to backdown so easily.
The wolves who were mauling at the man strayed their attention from him and looked directly at Amber.
In a quick instance, the wolves lunged forth the two of them.
Hayase rose from his hiding spot quickly swinging his daggers, cutting one of the wolves legs.
Amber jumped back as she took her stance.
Amber was the special one of the trio. She had a unique trait about her that set her apart from the other two. She knew the arts of Seikai.
Fire style: Fire Ball!
From the palm of her hands she unleashed a burning rage of fire balls directly at the wolves.
One by one they collapsed and dropped dead.
Suddenly the last remaining wolf caught Hayase off guard as he leaped into the air about to maul at Hayase…but before that could happen a younger boy, with dark brown hair and brown eyes appeared from the bushes rushing towards Hayase.
It was Yusuke, Hayase's younger brother, although he was younger and smaller he was physically stronger than Hayase.
Yusuke grabbed onto the wolf
Hayase tossed one of his daggers to Yusuke which Yusuke used to pierce the wolf's neck.
The wolf dropped dead on the spot and the three of them,tired, fell to the ground in relief.
It hadn't been long since they've arrived at this place of terror. The three of them had no idea where they had been taking all they knew was what had happened back at Eldina.
The three of them went over towards the dead body and paid their respects.
"It's really hard seeing someone's life being taken away…" Amber said as she looked at the dead man's body
Hayase's mind strayed remember the final moments of his two beloved parents. They both died trying to save him from the invasion that occurred during the attack of Eldina a couple days ago.
Yusuke began to sob uncontrollably, which made perfect since because he was only 12.
Amber moved in closer comforting Yusuke.
"We should get going…" Hayase said as he regained consciousness and stared at the setting sun
The mornings were hell but at night it was worse than hell. Beasts would rise from the ground massacuring any passing traveler. It wasn't much better with other people either because many would murder the innocent all for a "game" that had been implied on the first day.
You see…this isn't any ordinary forest. This forest is a never ending forest where many people have stumbled upon unfortunately. Amber was the only one who had heard of such a place but thought it was just a hoax which the folks had created but she was now wrong…In this forest human nor beast could be trusted. The three of them were taken hostage after running away from Jesus DeLaRosa, the demon kings son. DeLaRosa was a known demon who was feared by many, he commanded a fierce military of demons and other monsters which could rival a districts army.
The two of them followed behind Hayase as he lead them to where they had been taking shelter but paused briefly.
Hayase had always been a person with quick senses so when a group of men approached the three of them it came to no surprise.
The winds howled in the distance as night came.
"My,my don't we have a pretty lady?" said a man on the heavier side as he approached from the forest.
Amber stumbled behind Hayase as Hayase approached the group.
"What do you want?" Hayase asked as he clenched the rusty daggers in his pockets.
Hayase felt immense fear…he had never engaged in a fight with another human being before so if this was the first one then surely he would have to. He had a responsibility and that responsibility was to protect his younger brother and Amber.
5 more men appeared out of the dark forest and into the moonlight.
"It looks like we've found ourselves easy prey!" said one of the man as he walked over towards Hayase putting his arm on his shoulder.
Hayase looked directly at the man's eyes in fear.
"G-get your hands off me." He mumbled.
Another man approached Hayase
"Or what?" He said
Hayase's heart began to race even more rapidly now.
Hayase looked over to see Yusuke holding onto Amber. Hayase knew he had to be the man in this situation.
The men pushed Hayase to the ground and took out their blades.
"You know the rules right?"
Hayase's mind stumbled upon the first day and remembered that one of the rules the little girl had mentioned.
Only one person or group can remain victorious…
One of the men raised their blade
Hayase took out his daggers blocking the incoming attack and jumped back.
Hayase panted.
"You're not going to hurt me nor them!"
Using all his strength Hayase dodged and swang at the men and despite being outnumbered he managed to hold his own against them for a bit until one of the blades pierced his shoulder.
Augh! Hayase screamed
"Hayase!" Yusuke and Amber yelled out
Amber raised her hand and prepared to use her ability but was unable to due to her Seikai being low from the previous attack.
"Shit!" She mumbled
The men jabbed their blades into Hayase's body as they laughed at the pain Hayase was feeling.
Blood spilled from his mouth as his vision began to fade.
One the men raised their blade preparing for the final blow.
"After we're done with you…we'll deal with the other two!"
"Maybe we'll leave the girl and bring her along ha, ha!" The fat man said.
"Don't you touch her!" Hayase said with rage
The men laughed as they pointed out that he was powerless and had no choice but to let this happen
Hayase felt true anger and weakness for the first time. Despite wanting to do so many things he couldn't because he was weak.
The moonlight beamed at him as he saw a tall dark figure standing on a tree branch. He wondered what it was.
"You fought pretty well kid, but it was just not enough"
The man plunged his blade down. Hayase's life flashed before his eyes as the blade merged closer.
A powerful gust of wind blew the blade off the man's grip just in the nick of time.
"Preying upon kids? Have we've gone so low?" A man's voice said in the distance.
The men looked around their surroundings wondering where the voice was coming from.
"Who's there?" One of the men questioned
"Come out now!"
"As you wish…"
Suddenly one of the men collapsed onto the floor in an instant
The men turned to look at a 6'5 cloaked figure wearing a mask with a distinctive symbol.
The men pointed their blades toward The tall cloaked figure and demanded to know who he was.
"I'm not a fan of interviews…sorry!"
The men lunged at the cloaked figure in anger but the cloaked figure was fast and dodged all their attempts at striking.
Hayase watched as his wounds began getting to him. He hoped this mysterious man was good enough to trust.
Hayase began to close his eyes shut and as he did he was met with a familiar voice…
It was her…