Somebody gave him a strong shake and Jules opened his eyes. Tears made his vision blurred - he saw only a dark figure leaning over him. Screaming, he tried to kick it.

"Wake up, for the goddess' sake!" Ravin pulled him up. When Jules recognised his master's voice he stopped fighting.

He awoke overwhelmed by all the sensation of the real world mixed with the one from his nightmare. He saw Ravin's worried face on the background of their dim bedroom, but under his eyelids, his little sister still smiled at him. He heard the hunter's voice, but Maya's words echoed in his ears. He felt the mattress below him, but he could swear there was sand under his feet and between his toes.

A quiet sob escaped his mouth and he broke in tears. He shivered uncontrollably, like in fever, hot and cold at the same time.

"Jules," Ravin pulled the boy up into a sitting position. His voice, deep and calm, reassuring, seemed to come from far away. "Tell me what happened."

"My - my sister," Jules shook his head violently. He couldn't catch his breath. "Maya and my mom - they... they d-died again and I- I couldn't stop it!"

"Jules," the man frowned, and the boy lowered his head, too ashamed to look into his master's face. Then he felt Ravin grabbing his wrist, "Give it to me."

"What?"

He clutched the necklace. His fingers were clenched on the crystal, and blood, both fresh and clotted, covered his skin and the pebble. His hand ached.

The hunter straightened Jules' fingers gently but firmly; the boy couldn't bring himself to let go of the stone, and he felt a strange urge to stop his master from taking it. He sniffled, watching the mage placing the necklace on the bedside table.

"Ravin, there is something wrong with the crystal, "Jules tried to muffle his sobs.

"I have already realized that," the hunter pulled the boy closed, embracing him with one arm and slowly rubbing his back with the other. Jules let his head rest on his master's shoulder, being both ashamed for acting so childishly and relieved. He tried to focus on the warmth provided with Ravin's aura and body. His master gave great hugs that came with the soothing feeling of strength and safety of his muscular arms, and Jules felt like the pieces of his soul were being put back together. "Calm down. It wasn't real."

"But it was all my fault!" Jules buried his face in the cloth of Ravin's shirt. He clung to his master's side. "Maya is dead because of me!"

"What are you talking about, Jules?" Ravin's hand moved to the boy's head and rested on the mop of is curly hair. "You were nine years old, for goodness's sake! You couldn't do anything, you -"

"That day, she wanted to go to the cliff with me," Jules clenched his fists so hard his right hand started to bleed again. "But I didn't take her. I was angry with her. If I only-"

"Now listen carefully, 'cause I'm not going to repeat myself," Ravin's voice sounded deep and firm. "It wasn't your fault. You couldn't have known. It was a coincidence - an awful one, but still only an unhappy concurrence of events. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, yes, I do..." Jules took a deep breath and pulled away. He wiped his eyes with the inner side of his palms, but tears wouldn't stop running. His heart had broken and now its pieces were leaking out with his tears.

Ravin handed the boy a handkerchief and the boy blew his nose loudly.

"But there, in the dream, there was a voice... It talked to me, and it said it could bring my mom and my dad, and Maya, back to life..."

Ravin lifted the crystal and turned it around in his hands. His eyes sparkled with gold. A dark bolt appeared inside the stone. The pebble turned black for just a second and then it faded into white and become lucent again.

"I see," the hunter placed the necklace back on the bedside table. He took the rod out of his pocket. "Jules, I need you to take off your tunic and lie down.

"What?" Jules stared at him. "What's going on?"

"Who do you think the voice from your nightmare was?" Ravin took the hem of Jules' tunic and tugged it up gently but firmly, "What could know your deepest desires and infiltrate your dreams to tempt you? What can hide its aura until it's too late for its victim?

"Some kind of a demon?" Jules pulled the tunic over his head.

"Yes. It was a mara," Ravin pushed him to make him lie down. Jules tried to sit up, but the man placed a hand on his shoulder and kept in place. "You need a rune. I have to cut all the bonds the mara has formed with you. It is already feeding on your pain, Jules. We can let it influence you anymore."

"But you always say I'm too young!" the boy reminded.

Hunters often used runes to sharpen their Sixth Sense and body before a battle, and Jules observed Ravin placing runes on himself or on Raimont many times. He remembered Rai twisting his fingers, squirming and hissing, as the tip of the rod was leaving a burning trace on his skin.

"Yes, runes influence your aura, so they are not advisable for adolescents, as you are still growing," the hunter rested the tip of the rod on Jules' chest, "However, we have no choice now. The mara will cause much more harm than one rune."

"Wait!" Jules pushed Ravin's hand away. "But they... the maras... they can't fulfil what they promise, can they?

"No, they can't," the hunter's usually stern eyes were now filled with sadness, "No one can bring the dead back to life, boy. Many have tried, and all of them failed."

"So it's impossible?" Jules insisted, "Or you think it's evil?"

"You need the rune," the hunter took Jules's hand and made it rest on the mattress. The boy sunk in the bed, overwhelmed by the messy, strange thoughts that kept bustling inside his head. "Keep still. I'll do it fast, and you'll feel much better."

The point of the rod was hot, and when it moved on his chest, Jules thought about a game he'd played with Rai when they were younger. They used to light a candle and wait until the wax melted. Once it was liquid, they dipped their fingers in it. Whoever could bear it longer, won. It was fun until Ravin caught them red-handed.

"It's done," the hunter stuck the rod into his pocket and patted his apprentice's shoulder, "How are you?"

Jules breathed with relief and opened his eyes. He looked down at his chest. The rune was black like a tattoo. He sat up, but then his vision blurred and the bed swayed under him.

"It's all right," Ravin helped him to pull his tunic on and pushed him back into the lying position, "Most hunters feel a bit dizzy after getting their first rune. Every rune tampers with your magic, you need to get used to it. Now there's the last thing I must know. Where did you take the necklace from?"

"It belonged to Melissa," Jules looked away. "Rosalie told me she left something dangerous at the castle, but I thought she was mistaken. I didn't sense anything dark from the necklace!"

"Maras are good at hiding their aura," Ravin covered the boy with the heavy blankets. "You need to sleep now."

"Wait - I mean, there's still one thing," Jules tugged at his master shirt before the man stood up.

The hunter shifted on the bed, his hand resting on his apprentice's forehead and lingering there for a few seconds before moving to his arm.

"What is it? Is something else worrying you?"

"It's just..." Jules chewed at his bottom lip, trying to forget the image of his sister's wounded body that the mara had planted in his head. He frowned, twisting his fingers, unsure if he wanted his question answered. "That day, when I snuck out of the village to run for help, I'm sure that the women and children at the beach were still alive," the boy remembered the pirate talking while lay hidden under his parents' bed. "Then I met you on the road, and you sent me with Rai to get help from the castle, but you rode to the village -"

"I remember it, Jules," Ravin interrupted him. "You were halfway to the castle already when I saw you on that road."

"When you got to the village, did you see -, "Jules tightened his fist on the blanket. " Did you see how my mom and sister died?"

Something in Ravin's face changes - the muscles of his jaw tightened, his eyes turned a shade darker, as he slowly shook his head. He inhaled deeply, his eyebrows furrowed as he led an internal battle with his own thoughts.

"No, I did not," he squeezed Jules's shoulder, a gesture the boy hardly noticed. "When I came there, they all were already dead."

"But why?" Jules rolled on his side. He tried to lift himself on his elbow, but his body seemed too heavy. The rune on his chest pulsated at his effort. "They were pirates, they must have come for slaves they could sell, why would they kill everyone?!"

"I don't know, boy, but those people weren't simply thieves or slave traders," Ravin said in a low voice, choosing his words slowly. "They were people of the North, I heard they make bloody sacrifices to their gods to secure a safe passage through the sea. That might have been the reason" he put his hand on Jules' clenched fist. "Or it might have been revenge. There was another pirate attack that spring, a different crew from the north. Most of them were caught and executed in the fief your village belonged to. I'm sorry, Jules."

"Did they have a quick death?" the boy whispered through a tightened throat. "Did they?"

"Yes, they did," Ravin gave a nod. "There were properly buried, and I went there, to see the graves, and made sure no lost soul stayed in your village."

Jules found it hard to gulp the lump that had stuck in his throat. He nodded slowly, clenching his eyelids shut. He wanted to sleep, to forget. The faint source of light falling onto his face dissolved into darkness - Ravin must have blown the candle out.

"You want the light back?" the hunter asked in a low voice.

"I'm fine," Jules snuffled. What kind of hunter that would make him be if he were afraid of darkness. "Go to bed. I'm sorry to keep you busy this late."

"You have nothing to be sorry for," the hunter assured.

Many minutes later, drifting off to sleep, Jules still could feel Ravin sitting there, silent in the darkness, watching over him like many years ago. A little twinge of warm settled in the boy's chest, slowly melting the pain that gripped his heart.

The demon was wrong in all that it had said to him, and Jules wished he could say it to its face. He was not alone, and ever since the day he'd lost his family, he had never been.

-Author's note- 

Hi :) This chapter was a kind of emotional one to write, and I hope you enjoyed it, and that I didn't make it too fluffy. But everyone needs a hug and reassurance sometimes! (My dog knows something about it, my furry little baby <3 ) 

The exam session is finally over! I couldn't be more relieved! I'm just waiting to get my exams results now. As I have more time, new chapters will be published on Wednesdays and Sundays. 

Thank you all! I wish you the best week!