Felix

The smoke burned my eyes as I stumbled out of my house that was on fire. Panic choked me as my heart banged against my chest at the sight of my parents fighting off the Light Council.

"Run, Felix," my mom shouted.

One of the mages, who wore the white and golden cloak, blasted an attack my way, just inches away from hitting me.

"Get the boy!"

"Please no!" I pleaded. "Leave my mom and dad alone!" I screamed.

A blinding flash of light shined where one of the mages stood as the air around us got hot. When the flash cleared, my dad's body was illuminated by light as he lied crumpled to the ground.

"Felix, go!" My mom shouted as her hands glowed with crackling essence.

Knowing I had to live and trusting the fight to my mom, I ran into the forest with tears streaming down my face with The Dice of Fate in my hands.

I watched from a distance as my home burned to the ground and as much faith as I had in my mom, I knew she wasn't making it. Her screams, her final desperate cry was swallowed by the light and left silence in her place.

The life I had known was gone, replaced by a void.

~

Each sound of the leaves, every snap of a twig, brought shivers down my spine.

As I stumbled through the forest, I tried my best to keep myself together. My legs were heavy with pain as I ran deeper into the forest. The sun was setting and the shadows were beginning to creep in.

I ran into the thickest part of the woods, the bark of the trees tore through my favorite shirt as I pushed deeper and deeper into the forest.

I could feel someone coming closer and closer which left me no time to rest. I just kept moving.

Then, I heard it - the sound of footsteps crunching towards me. A bolt of nerves shot throughout my body and I fell into the grass.

I thought it was over. It felt like it was it, but to my surprise it was my best friend, Leo who came running through the trees.

His naturally olive skin had gone pale when he saw me. "Felix, we have to keep moving. They'll find us if we stay here."

"How did you find me? Leo, my parents."

"I know. Felix, we have to keep going. My parents went to help and I saw you. I had to come. We have to always be together, okay?"

I grabbed his hand. "Okay."

So we ran. But our escape was short-lived. A group of mages from the Light Council had caught up.

Leo released my hand. "Felix, go!" He shouted, stepping in front of me. "I'll hold them off."

"No, Leo! I can't leave you!" I cried.

Leo turned to me, his eyes filled with tears and a fire I had never seen from him as his hands exploded in intense flames. "You have to, Felix. You have to survive. For your family. For us."

Before I could argue, Leo charged at the mages, his magic stronger than I had ever seen. It wasn't the playful flickers he would conjure up, but a consuming inferno.

Something my wind magic at my level wasn't able to put out.

The air crackled with his raw power, but there were just too many for him. They attacked Leo and he dodged a few, but they struck him down and forced him to his knees.

"Leo!" I screamed.

Even as he coughed up blood, he still stood up and his entire body exploded into flames. He transformed into something that wasn't him, but before he could do anything, the Light Council surrounded him and performed a ritual of pure light. I couldn't see him, but I could hear Leo's scream that sounded like a roar.

But in the end, his body crumbled to the floor just like my parents. All that remained was charred remains of a boy who faced impossible odds to protect his best friend.

I wanted to go back to him. I wanted to kill them all, but I just kept running. Faster and faster until I became numb to the pain.

It was all I could do because if I was caught, then everyone's sacrifice was for nothing, so I ran with speed I didn't know I had until the village I once knew went up into flames.

~