Enemies

Without thinking, Orion pocketed the stone and ran back toward the house. Branches and needles whipped at his face as he ran through trees and bushes. Overhead the smoke was rising above the trees, transforming the hillside into an even darker and dreary place.

Orion was close now, as he could feel the heat against his shivering body. Without warning, he tripped over an overturned root and fell to the muddy ground. He looked up, before him and ablaze, was the farm. The roof was caved in and wood was falling into the house. One section of the wall was completely blown off as if there was an explosion. Fire crawled all along the house, burning the foundation into ashes. There was a small crack and another section of the roof collapsed as a beam broke.

Orion covered his eyes as the wind swept smoke and ambers over him. The thickening rain sizzled as it hit the blazes. He coughed and gagged when the acrid smoke filled his lungs. There was no possible way that Herman and Beatrice were alive and he knew it. He fell to his knees and tears filled his eyes. The fire was spreading onto the trees, surrounding him like a shield of fire.

A dark figure abruptly came from behind the house. It looked like a hooded man on a horse, but he had an inhuman sized hump on his back and he held a lit torch. Orion looked at him through the blurriness of his tears. All of his grief was replaced by anger. Flashes of revenge boiled inside of him. He got up and reached for his bow but it wasn't there.

I must have left it by the stream. The man merely laughed at Orion's attempt to arm himself. The sound itself was depraved of all human emotions. He felt colder even while in the icy rain, like all the beauty in life was drained from him. The man threw the torch into the fire and galloped away, leaving him in the middle of the blaze.

Orion turned around and dashed back towards the stream. He didn't know who, or what the man was but he just had to find his bow and track him down. The run to the stream didn't take him long, but it hurt. New cuts and bruises covered his burns as he crossed the small forest.

Sure enough he found his bow and picked it up. He was about to go back and chase the man when a buzzing noise filled his head. It felt like there was a fly inside of his head that he couldn't get rid of. Suddenly a ruby-colored lightning bolt shot through the trees and scraped his neck. Orion fell down, gasping for air. He clenched his wound and felt his skin burned. It got harder to breath and darkness gathered around him. His vision faded as he heard voices above him. He hung onto his conciseness with determination to kill his murderers. He let go of the feeling, and slipped away.

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Orion opened his eyes only to be greeted by blurriness. His throat felt dry and the cuts on his face stung. After it subsided, he looked up at his surroundings. The sky was still solid black but the rain died down into a drizzle. He sat up and a roar of pain rushed up to greet him. His body ached and he yearned for something to drink. In front of him, two rigid men were tampering with his pack. Alarmed, he got up and reached for his bow. To his surmise they took it, so he pulled out his dagger and approached them. They were taking his things.

Those thieves! And, murderers! Without thinking and filled with rage, he ran towards them. The man on the right turned around and grabbed Orion by the wrist then swung him around so he was bending his arm. A sharp pain went through his elbow as he dropped the dagger. The other man picked it up and casually walked closer to them.

"Well well, what do we have here? Was our little prisoner trying to escape?"

"You murderers," Orion yelled. "You killed the closest thing I had to a family!" "It really wasn't our idea," the man replied. "But we liked doing it anyway." As cruel smile formed on his lips he turned around just as Orion kicked the other man behind him. There was a sharp snap as he hollered in pain. Orion swiftly jabbed the man in front of him and he fell over, dropping the dagger. He quickly picked it up and pointed it at his throat before he could even move.

"Alright please, please just don't kill me," he whimpered.

"Who are you," was Orion's only reply. Before he could answer, another tingling sensation filled his body. He jumped back just as a faster, sharper, black-colored lighting bolt hit the man in the side, exploding into a shockwave of energy that shoved him onto the ground..

Breathless, he panted for air as he got up. Numbness ached his body as he stood up. He looked around, the assassin, or whoever struck the man, was gone. He walked over to the body. It wasn't destroyed or blown into pieces, yet Orion was knocked back by an explosion of energy. He looked closer, the spot where the bolt hit was black and charred, but other than that, the rest of the body was unharmed. It was as if some of the energy in the bolt went into the body. That must have been what caused the death. He looked at the other man whose shin had broken. He had been struck too, but at the temple, he wasn't as fortunate.

Orion searched their items and took anything that was of value or use to himAs he rummaged through their items he found a small ruby. It was smaller than the other stone he found, but this one had a certain glow to it. It was the same color of the lighting bolt that almost struck him on the neck.

He pocketed the stone and stood there for a moment. Behind him was the only thing he knew as a family. If he left now looking for answers, he wouldn't be back for a long time. One thing for certain though, he did not want to look back at the wreckage. Whatever fate was bestowed upon him, he would have to overcome it to revenge his friends. Determined, he took off down a path that lead to Melan, a city close to his farm. If his murderer was to be living some where it would be around the city. As he started running down the path confusion and grief filled his mind. But through all of his emotions, one thing was still clear to him. He had enemies….