Ashes

Chapter 1

Thana was escaping carnage. Trouble always seemed to follow them, but not like this. Never like this. So many lives lost to such a normal occurrence. But it wasn't normal. Their car had hit some kind of invisible wall? Surely not. They must have hit their head. The car crash was no more interesting than maths.

But they were scared. After all, that was the last of their family gone to a mechanical fate. But they had to get to safety. They had been spared. They wouldn't mess it up.

Legs begging for rest, Thana went on. Their laboured breaths, a reminder that they weren't going home.

Only one hand was in use, the other clutched an old heirloom box. It was made of a nice mat-stained oak. It had a rim going all around it, but nobody had ever been able to open it. That was impossible. No latch or anything. It was fairly small and ornate, but it was precious, and Thana took great care to prevent losing it. On the box there were a few circles with symbols inside of them. The top had a lightning bolt, the bottom had a skull and one of the sides had a tidal wave. One circle was blank. 2 of the sides were plane apart from the words 'Chosen' on them.

Much to their relief, a forest of untamed wilderness was a stone's throw away. Anything to get some rest. They pushed away vines but struggled to clear a path. Nettles grabbed for their feet as they pushed on ignoring the pain. They had delt with worse that day. Fallen trees had proven to be a harder obstacle. Thana was short for their age, so it took longer than usual to get across.

After making it to a place safe enough to rest, then grumbled to themself. Why did this have to happen to them? Their anger quickly turned to sadness as Thana erupted into tears. They didn't know how to defend themself.

Sure, they were a master at the bow, but it wasn't like they had one on them. Then out one of the corners of their eye, they saw a bow and quiver so conveniently laying in a bush. They picked it up. The quiver had three strange arrows in it. Odd.

"HAY!" Yelled an angry voice. In a moment of fear and instinct, Thana loaded the bow and fired at the emerging figure. Right in the chest.

BOING!

Rubber arrows. They backed away. It looked at them. They dropped the bow. It smiled. He was fairly tall and had messy black hair. His blue eyes shone in the autumn light. He had a brownish top that looked like it had originally been white. He was the type of person you'd expect to be a crime boss. Only... only he was a teenager. He was probably a good few years older than them, but that still made him fairly young.

"You've got good aim," he said picking up the bow and examining it methodically, running his cold fingers across its edge.

"My name's Amos. Yours?" He offered his hand out to shake, but instead Thana backed away again. Their heart was racing. This was bad, they were sure of it.

"Not one for introductions I see," He frowned a little, then tossed the bow back to Thana which they promptly caught. "Keep it and the quiver. Though those arrows won't be of much use. Come, I won't hurt you. There's just someone I want you to meet."

Thana pondered the decision. Either go with Amos and risk getting hurt or run back and risk getting found.

"Fine" Thana answered.

They didn't have to go far. It was just past a few trees, and even that felt like an exaggeration. It was a fairly large clearing with ample space for activates. In the centre, a muddy, off white, medium tent was set up. To call it a tent would be giving it credit. It was more like a square tepee. It was open with no ground and only a few blankets inside and food crates. Nearby was a big pile of wood. Some of it was carved into tools like the bow Thana was holding, tool handles and even real arrows. Whoever made them must have known their craft, Thana thought.

"Who's that?" Said a young voice. Thana turned to see a boy enter the clearing. He didn't look much older than Thana, with scruffy brown hair and a red t-shirt. His face was dirty with an eagerness to it. In his arms, he grasped enough loose vines to cover a roof.

"Found them outside camp. One of the sets got out and they got to it. Hit me square. Would've died if not for the training arrows," Amos recalled with great vigour.

The pressure was like a brick wall. Then came the prolonged eye contact. An eternity gone by in 3 seconds. Then suddenly the boy's emotionless, expressionless face morphed into that of pure adrenaline.

"My name's Egan. Me and Amos live here. We call it 'Camp Pluto'" Egan said with the zest of a little kid explaining why the stegosaurus is their favourite animal.

"After the God or the planet?" Thana didn't know whether to trust them, but they didn't seem to be of any harm to them.

"After the God. He was an outcast, so are we," said Amos.