Shatter 1: Paint the Shadows

Chapter Two

Velron

He gained consciousness to a sprinkle of water on his face followed by a blinding light trying to forcefully infiltrate his eyelids. He flinched, squinting and turning away from the luminosity, letting out a grunt. "He's awake." A voice remarked. 

The light gradually dimmed and the brightness extinguished. Velron turned to his side and blinked his eyes into seeing again. He felt his head pound in ache as if a brick had been hurled at his skull. A low murmur passed along the people around him. Although, at that moment, he was in no place to make heads or tails of who they were. He raised his hand to his head, intending to press the down the throbbing. But his other hand dragged along too. It took him a few seconds to accept that his hands were tied.

Where was he? Who were these people? The ache in his head spiked once more. He yelped. Was he sedated? The last he recalled was that he was with Hema—

A wave of evocations raced past him— the girl he'd encountered, the abandoned mansion, the fact that he was in Lemsire, the forest they sped past, the net he was caught in and.... His memory betrayed him any further. He'd hadn't anticipated to live to see the next dawn, neither did he did recall moving anywhere from that forest. But his current situation proved him wrong enough already.

Now, he examined the people around him. They had their eyes trained on him so gravely, he doubted they even blinked. They were four teens:

A blonde girl with bronze skin and hazel eyes. Her hair was let down in mild curls that fell till her waist, making her look like a warrior from a fairytale. She seemed more scared than wary of him, as if she'd jump out of her skin in case he made any sudden movements. She seemed foolish enough to fall for a few crocodile tears and a sad story about how he was separated from his family at a young age.

A boy with black hair, dark skin and silver orbs. He had a lean figure and enhanced cheekbones, and pretty much a very normal hairstyle. A husky stood near him, his fur standing on ends as he growled at Velron. Furthermore, the boy seemed pretty curious about Velron. A bad sign, really. These are the types that go snooping into your belongings, trying to play Sherlock and end up being nothing but a huge pain. If Velron had to maintain his cover as a stowaway from Sondelle, this guy is the one he'd have to be most wary about.

A fair boy with brown strands curling up at his temples. He had blue eyes and cheeks filled with pink freckles and he wore a kind of a hearing aid. And Velron knew well that those hearing aids hid their own pretty story. The boy had his guard up higher than the walls surrounding the capital city of Shalnine. His blue eyes scanned Velron from head to toe, his spear leaning on him in ready stance, as if he'd been waiting to kill Velron from his past ten lives. This one, Velron could acknowledge. He was the only one who actually seemed like an enemy had raided his home. Maybe he'd put up a fair fight, in case they engaged in combat sometime.

Lastly, a tall, pale blond with emerald eyes. He wore plain spectacles and stared at Velron as if he was a lowly peasant kneeling in the presence of a nobleman. He had the pride of a man who could murder everyone in the room in the blink of an eye and leave without a trace. He held his calm and stood unarmed. Velron could read well that this guy underestimated his enemy and situations like these did not end well.

If Velron intended to keep his cover and walk out to his siblings all in a single piece, he might have to beg his way through. As disgusting as it may sound, he was ready to lay down his honor, his dignity, his morals and everything else if that's what was needed to get rid of this hellhole. He would become a wild beast and tear through this nation if that's what it asked of him.

Now, he looked up at the teens in front of him with weary, but grateful eyes and let his lower lip wobble. He hunched his back and raised his hands in prayer. In a thick Sondellian accent, he squealed weakly "Thank the heavens," he gasped. "Please, hear me out, O'ghafti. I come from Sondelle. I was hunted down by bandits and brought to this place—"