Trigger warning, blood, gore and child abuse

Hunter had just returned from a mission and it had ended horribly. It was a simple mission, to begin with, all he and his squad needed to do was collect some magical artifacts from some bounty hunters that were being held at the knee and transport them back to the conformatorium and deliver the artifacts back to the Emperor. It was a simple task and since the Emperor considered it as such he allowed Hunter to accompany the relocation team as his first proper mission.

Hunter was the youngest scout in the coven at the painfully young age of eleven, so Hunter jumped at the opportunity to prove himself to his uncle and the rest of the coven that despite his age he could be just as usual as everyone else. The team was small only consisting of five scouts including himself and while the team seemed somewhat miffed by him accompanying them, they were polite and professional as one could be in the Emperor's coven.

The mission had started out great. They had gotten to the knee in record time, arriving just before sundown. This was perfect timing as they had been ordered to carry the cargo and prisoners by night so as not to draw attention to themselves. Hunter had found this odd, why did they have to lie low? They were simply carrying out the orders of the Emperor. What was shady about that?

Hunter had ignored this and carried out the mission as ordered. They had successfully obtained both the artifacts and prisoners and were sent on their way. The artifact seemed to be some form of stone, it was small and blue in colour but Hunter couldn't recall having read about it, which was odd but everything appeared to be going well. That was until they reached the hip and the small squad suddenly found themselves surrounded by bounty hunters, whether they were attempting to rescue their "friends" or steal back the artifacts he couldn't tell.

All he knew was they were outnumbered five to one. They surrounded the scouts and cast magic circles trapping them in a large fierce ring of fire that blocked their vision and made it significantly hard to breathe. It wasn't long before the hunters (ironic) jumped into the ring catching them by surprise and started attacking, Hunter barely had the chance to raise his staff before he was charged at, a dagger and whip just narrowly missing his face and ribs.

The two exchanged blows, Hunter struggling to push the offender back. The heat was intense as the fire flickered around them and his muscles ached as he used all his strength to fight. While he was a good fighter for his age, he was still just a child. He looked around desperately for some help but was horrified to see that some of his team had already fallen, their captain had been cut down and was bleeding on the grass. His blood was blending into the red of the grass. The rest of his team were struggling and seemed just as horrified as he did.

Hunter wanted to be sick

He was starting to get tired now gripping his staff until his knuckles turned white. If only he knew how to use magic, he thought as he looked at his staff. His staff was filled with artificial magic but he barely knew how to cast a light spell with it, let alone a spell that would be strong enough to save everyone. What could he do?

The fire was worsening, the flames grew bigger and the fumes made it almost impossible to see and just as hard to breathe. He had managed to dodge most of their attacks and pushed back most of his attackers, even without magic. It seemed like the hunters were growing equally as tired as the battle raged on, this gave Hunter hope that they could pull through. It was now a matter of who gave up first and if they could just hold on just a little longer.

"Guys-" Hunter turned to call to his team after disarming his opponent but his face morphed into absolute terror when he saw what had just happened. Three of the scouts were on the ground in a pool of their own blood, unmoving as the bounty hunters stood over them. He watched as one of the scouts, the last scout was knocked to the ground, Hunter could feel the impact through the ground as he landed with a sickening thud. The bounty hunter slowly approached as if stalking his prey.

They were enjoying this, they were a game to them...it had been a trap and they had walked right into it.

The bounty hunter raised his hand to either cast a spell or draw his weapon, Hunter couldn't tell from his position but all he knew was that this was going to be the finishing blow. Something inside Hunter snapped and without knowing what he was doing dashed towards the attacker and hit him with his staff, so strong that he launched him over the ring of fire and into a tree. Hunter didn't even notice that he had activated the staff's magic as he lifted the bounty hunters off the ground and threw them through the fire, the harsh red glow eliminating from the jewel on his staff. He continued this until the hunters were either unconscious or retreated, seeing no point in continuing fighting when they had all but won the fight.

Hunter with a flick of his wrist extinguished the fire, returning the forest to its rightful state of darkness. It was over...

Hunter was shaking when he realised what had happened, exhaustion and the weight of the situation finally taking full effect. His knees buckled beneath him as he swayed, gravity finally pulling him to the ground. He expected to hit the hard ground but felt someone awkwardly catch him from behind and gently lower him to the ground. He was now laying awkwardly in their lap but Hunter didn't have the energy to resist.

"Hey...kid are you ok?" Hunter's head shifted and glanced up at the voice, it was the scout...he was alive. He tried to turn his head to look at the other scouts but had his head gently moved back, the scout shook his head and gave a look of sadness and disappointment.

"They... didn't make it, we...we're the only survivors" Hunter gave a small nod, he thought as much but he didn't want to believe it. He tried his best to hold back tears but the reassuring smile, despite the grin circumstances broke him. So he let himself cry.

In fear, in sadness, in shame, he just let himself sob until there were no more tears to cry.

They made it back to the castle a few hours later and had the castle healers heal and look over their wounds. They were lucky they had been told, all things considered, they managed to escape with minimal injury, but Hunter couldn't fight the sinking feeling in his stomach. He had failed the mission and a simple mission at that. People had died and he couldn't do anything about it. He continued with this internal dread as he walked to the throne room to meet his uncle, he had been summoned to go over the events of the mission. His uncle would be so disappointed

Finally, he reached the large doors of the throne room and taking one final deep breath he nervously knocked on the door. He waited patiently until he heard his uncle permitting him to enter. Timidly, he entered the room. He made his way across the large and echoing room towards his uncle who as always was seated at the end of the room, he was eerily waiting for Hunter to come closer. Hunter made it to the centre of the room and kneeled before the emperor.

"You summoned me Emperor Belos"

"I heard what happened on you're mission Hunter and I must say I am not impressed"

"Uncle-"

"That will be Emperor Belos brat, do not speak when I am talking!" His voice echoed through the room, freezing Hunter in place who muttered an apology and pleads for forgiveness. Belos scoffed at the boy but continued speaking.

"But no matter, I am just glad that you are safe and back where you belong...and you retrieved the artifacts I asked" Hunter flinched eyes widening. What? Did his uncle think...oh no.

"Sir..."

"Yes, Hunter?"

"We- I didn't not manage to retrieve the artifacts-" Before Hunter could continue a tendril was launched towards him, slicing threw his right cheek causing the boy to falter clenching the side of his face in pain and fear. He looked at his uncle, the tendril that was sent at him was from his uncle who was not retreating it back under his cloak. Hunter watched never having seen his uncle this angry before.

He was frantic, pacing around the room, glowing furiously with an icy blue glow eliminating from them. Hunter delicious from the pain could barely comprehend the words his uncle was saying, all he heard was the endless shouting and screams he aimed at him, he hadn't even noticed the tears streaming down his face.

"You foolish child! Do you have any idea how valuable those artifacts are! You can't just find galserstones at the night market, you are such a disappointment!"

"I-i...I"

"Enough of your worthless grovelling it is pointless and unbecoming of my nephew, get out of my sight!" Hunter didn't hesitate to stumble to his feet and rush to the door pushing threw it and running out the door. It was late and the corridors of the castle were dark and empty, Hunter could just make out the sound of whispers from some of the scouts on duty but paid them no mind as he desperately ran to his room.

Once he got to his room he could patch himself up

Once he was patched up he could work on being better and stop being such a disappointment

He would make his uncle proud...he could do it, if he just tried harder his uncle would be proud...right? This was just a side effect of his curse, he didn't mean to hurt him...his uncle loved him...he did.

"He loves me...I deserved this..."

His uncle was the Emperor after all

And the Emperor was never wrong