SHORT NOTICE: Please do not read yet. While transferring chapters across reading platforms, these chapters lost any italics/POV changes that are detrimental for your sanity, when reading through. I plan to fix this soon and will remove this notice when I have. If you wish to read the story, you can also find it on Wattpad. Thank you.

A/N: I do not own the following characters listed from Evertale. I am simply a fan with some time to geek out about this series! (List is updated every chapter)

•Beryx

•Zeregia

•Levinwolf

•Krish

•Sherry

•Ludorié

•Finn

•Rizette

•Noctursus

Enjoy!

"Did you not hear us right?" A deep voice meekly stood out against the heavy rainfall. I could barely see three feet in front of me, maybe five when lightning struck.

Every figure in front of me was dark. There were ten people, two of which were my parents. They were travelers, whose wanderlust took us far and wide.

My father's backpack had been yanked off of him and he was sitting on the ground, looking up at a thief who's dagger was pointed towards him. "I said there's a toll for passing through here. This is Kud territory." The figure kneeled down and brought the knife closer to my fathers neck. My mom's grip on my shoulders tightened. I was sniveling, but all whiny noises I made were drowned out by rain.

"Kud means people, we're all equal here! What business do you have taking money from us? Please, just let us pass through."

The thief didn't waver, his knife staying in place. "It's the type of people that's the problem. Humans have to pay a fee." Lightning crackled across the sky. I saw a snout poking from the thief's hood. His teeth were bared, sporting a malicious grin. Other hooded figures began searching through the backpack. It contained almost all of our belongings. Me and my mom had smaller bags, carrying personal things. "Okay, Okay! Look, I can get you whatever is needed for the fee." When my dad turned to reach for his backpack, the tip of the dagger was pushed into his neck. A small bit of blood mixed in with the rain, running down his neck.

"Well, for giving us a hard time we decided to up the price." One of the peers fished a leather bag out of the backpack that was tied from the top with a black string. Untying it, they shook the bag and confirmed our silver coins were in there. The bag was tossed to whom we presumed to be the leader, who was wielding the dagger. "Please don't take tha-" the blade of the knife slowly cut down his neck, earning silence from father. "No gold...?" The thief looked at the pouch disappointed.

"Sir, we have some sort of... box here. It's locked." The peer pulled out a small, dark oak box. Its edges were worn down and it was clasped shut with a golden lock.

"Where the key?" My father refused to answer and just stared at the box. A furred hand shot out and grabbed his shirt, claws piercing the cloth as he was yanked towards the face of the snarling thief.

"Tell... me." My father shook his head, giving weary eye contact to the box. The thief used the blunt end of the dagger and struck him across the face. With a direct blow, my father's head reeled to the side and he fell to the ground, now soaked in mud and water.

"Hun, please just get the key." My mother's stupor had broken and her delicate voice barely made it to father's ears. He groaned and rubbed his cheek where a bruise had already formed. "Th...the side pocket... just let me get it." He held his hands up as he walked over to the bag. The leader stood upright, menacingly glaring at my father. One crook stood beside him, watching as he dug through the side pocket. He reached arm's length into the pocket and took a deep breath.

"Mother, that hurts..." I looked up at her to see that she was biting her lip, staring nervously at father. Her nails had been digging into my shoulder when his hand shot into the side pocket.

Suddenly, father shot up and pulled a sword from the pocket. He sliced through the neck of the crook in front of him. Blood splayed from his neck, coating him in a maroon mess. My mother stepped in front of me and charged the leader. From beneath mother's sleeve, a knife slid out and the handle fell perfectly into place with her hand.

She cried out and held the knife up, aiming towards the back of the leaders head. He responded with a sixth sense and spun around, deflecting the blow with his own dagger. She jumped back, avoiding his counter swipe towards her stomach and quickly charged again, holding both hands on the handle and aiming towards his face.

He ducked under the kill-blow and brought his fist straight into her gut. The blow knocked the wind out of her and she slumped over his arm, sputtering for air. The leader turned her over so that she was staring into his eyes as he held the dagger above her.

"I've decided to raise the toll." My mother winced as she held her stomach. Her hazel eyes trailed away from the leader, slowly meeting mine.

"Run."

The words were inaudible but the meaning was obvious as I turned to run. However, I found myself unable to move as I saw father had been battling off all the crooks on his own. They were all on the ground dead and his attention had now shifted to the leader.

"No!" He charged forward and swung his sword downwards. The leader dropped mother and dodged the slice, anticipating this moment.

"Too slow." The leader sunk his dagger into father's stomach and continued to shank him, repeating the stabbing motion. Father pushed off the leader and staggered back, clutching his abdomen as blood ran through his hand.

Time slowed as his sword dropped to the ground, making a clanging noise and splashing water everywhere. His body began veering backwards and his head was lolling back. Our eyes made contact and he broke a sad grin before they rolled to the back of his head and he fell to the ground.

My mother screamed and sunk the knife into the shoulder of the leader. "Run Wilkes, run! Grab the box!" My body did what it was told as my brain went autopilot. I mindlessly grabbed the box and turned around, sprinting through foliage and around trees.

"Y-you vile...!" I heard clanging behind me as my mother and the leader traded blows. In less than five seconds I heard a pained cry in unison, shared between her and the leader. Tears ran down my eyes and I forced my legs to keep pushing me forward. The rain had gotten so heavy that I could barely feel my feet hit solid ground. The weather became too much and I ran face first into a tree, unable to foresee its presence. My hand reactively went to my nose as everything went black and I fell down, unconscious.

I was alone...