The Twilight Children//The School for Good and Evil

14 ~ Nightmares

. : Sebastian of Havfrue : .

The forest was quiet at night, so much so that it gave Sebastian the chills as he crept through it. The greenery was thick and tangled, and there were no clear paths, except the one his pirate colleague had left earlier in the evening. There was no trace of the Twilight Children or their home in the woodland, only Kendrick's sloppy trail. 

Sebastian grumbled at the leaves and vines as he pushed through the foliage. He hadn't wanted to track him down, but his soldiers had said some concerning things to him, and Sebastian decided to follow him. 

Finally, he came upon a squat wooden house, built at the edge of a clearing. A few more small dwellings rested nearby, all dark and quiet. A mini village-- too large for just the Twilight Children. How had Kendrick found this?

Sebastian glanced around and watched Kendrick enter one of the houses. Sebastian rolled his eyes, he was probably just after some sort of treasure, as pirates often were. Still, Sebastian found himself waiting and watching. He could leave once he knew Kendrick was out of there.

It was deathly quiet for a few moments, save for a few small bugs chirping, and a nearby lagoon, where a water wheel was hooked up. Sebastian ran his hands over his biceps, trying to ward off a chill, when he heard a scream, coming from the house where Kendrick was. It sounded as if it were immediately cut off.

Sebastian straightened up and walked over to the house. They couldn't be harming innocent villagers, the only people they had to fight were the Twilight Children, who fought back.

Sebastian pushed the door open and nearly gagged. The metallic scent of blood was enough to make him want to throw up. He pushed past the neatly woven doormat, and the shadowy entryway, through a curtain and came to a dead halt.

Kendrick, his long greasy hair hanging in his face, stood with his curved sword above his head. Sebastian stood, stunned into silence, as he plunged it into the throat of a sleeping child. 

"What the fuck are you doing?" Sebastian choked out. His stomach was rioting. He had killed people before, but had never butchered children, had never seen anyone killed in such a grotesque manner. He couldn't handle it, and turned around and retched to the ground. Nothing came up, since all their food was on the ships that had been burned earlier.

Kendrick snapped around, and Sebastian flinched back at the bloodthirsty glare. "Sending a message. If the Igni wants to destroy our boats, we will take something back."

Sebastian let out a sharp sob. "You can't kill innocents. They came after our soldiers. We have to go now."

Kendrick shook his head, and raised his red gleaming sword up, about to slash the neck of another, but Sebastian ran forward and grabbed his arm. "No! We are leaving now!"

Kendrick snarled but didn't object anymore, allowing Sebastian to pull him out of the house and back down the grassy trail. They had only just vanished beyond the trees when a scream rang out. 

Sebastian turned his head back as more screaming began, and a fire lit up in one of the tree houses, that he hadn't noticed in the dark. The Igni.

"Let's go now." Sebastian barked, shoving Kendrick away.

~~~