The Loner and the Former King

Forgotten Memory

TW: This chapter does include: child abuse (Not much) and murder of a creature/animal.

With only a breath in you can taste the bitterness that surrounded the dark red sky, for the night had come and it was already past bedtime.

The air was fusty, but yet acrid and reeked of the anger the grounds upheld as you hear the silly nonsense the stars declare. The more they scream, the more they drown out, the more a man, the more a child can adjust.

The main focus was up ahead, where breathing was horrid and where the mood was dull, a sign of hope, but also a sign of death, painting its way to the most unfortunate of souls.

A flap of its wings, a sign of hope for what's alive, but a sign of weakness, an easy prey to take. Its yellow skin alighted its existence for the world around it is dull, and bland, and the only thing covering its scent and sight is the strong mist but that didn't stop an eye from spotting it from a fair distance away, or a few you might say.

A ten-year-old boy stood before the creature, sparks of red came from his sweaty palms, small but dangerous for a prey so weak as this one, it felt like an unfair play.

Despite the intentions and danger this boy radiated he was shaken from head to toe, like a leaf in the wind or this case a boy in the mist nothing but beating hearts. The boy was sweating and terror filled his body from his tembling figure to his bright red eyes, radiating power but also fear, and guilt as goosebumps clung to his skin, and the taste of blood filled his mouth as his bite his lips to hide a horrid scream or cry come out.

"Go on" a voice Insisted with little patience lingering on his tongue.

The boy didn't respond in hope that nothing was real, he wasn't real, the creature wasn't the man wasn't - The man gripped the boy's arms letting the boy yelp, and dare to cry as his eyesight started to blur, this was indeed real as pain picked against his bare skin. The man groaned with annoyance and dragged the boy forward.

The boy tried digging his heels into the gravel-like ground to stop what was to come but it came to no avail, he wasn't strong enough, not yet.

The older figure, the boy's father, a parental figure only tightened his grip the more the boy continued to resist, continued to tag, so the boy stopped trying as they came only a few feet from the one the boy trembled about, the damaged winged creature with a horn bigger than what it's forehead should be able to hold.

It flipped its wings repetitively to escape its fate, all just resulting in creating a small dust tornado that only made the boy unsettled, but no real harm could be made with nothing to protect itself, no way of escape no sign of hope and life, nothing at all.

The man let go of the boy's arm with a shove, almost tumbling the boy face forward in the stale dirt ground.

"Go on, the target should be clear now" The man spoke behind him in a deadly voice, already starting to boil over, and the boy knew this, he knew it all too well.

Looking over at the creature it continued to flap, and flap, and flap but to little avail.

Though he didn't want to hurt the creature the thought of disobeying his father weighed deeply therefore his feet and body started to move.

With only a step forward, he coached over the creature, causing his body to flinch due to the creature's wings and the dust it produced. In a panicked manner, he quickly placed a hand on the creature to secure its victim, and the wings came to a stop.

Looking over his hand he could feel the creature's scales breathe in and out from rapid to slow, in and out, showing life.

Looking over the creature's eyes however showed no hope lighting its life now, it had given up and this broke his heart, it was too much, it hurt his soul and he was the reason for it. He looked back at his hand and breathed

"What are you waiting for? This shouldn't be hard, even for you-"

lighten skrike and a terrible scream could be heard throughout, echoing around, echoing through the boy's ears like on repeat even after what's happened, what's he's done.

He had used his power, he had killed a living being that now lay in front of him, evidence of what he's done laid right in front of him.

And all he could do was stare at his hands.

His shaky hands, as his breathing became rapid, he couldn't move, he couldn't think of anything else but sit on the ground and stare at the weapon that had caused this.

"Next time-"

"Augs!" a young girl's voice rang interrupted his father and pushed past him, someone no one could dare do.

Augustus didn't hear it.

He was a monster.

A hypocrite.

A lier.

A-

"Are you you okay?"