Frost and Darkness

Chapter two; Memories

I lay on my bed of leaves, my hands folded under my head. My black bangs covering my suntanned, time worn face. I'm having bags under my eyes, but I don't care. It's because of the nightmares. The memories. They come and go as they please, but they never seem to let me sleep. They haunt me. Their faces. His voice. The screams. The loneliness. It never leaves me alone. It's suffocating. The only thought that gets me through... No. That way I will become like him. It will rid him of this world, but it will make me something I swore I would never be. I would never become him.

The fire spread out all over the settlement. "Get away from the fire." I said. Sheila looked at me all scared, but her mom started to pull. "Now!" I said and gave her a nudge. "Where's daddy?" She asked her mom. "Inside. Dear! We have to go!" The reunited family ran in the opposite direction of where the fire came from. Sheila called out my name and tears rolled down my cheeks. "I'll catch up!" I called back. "Go! Hurry!" What we did not know was that the fire engulfed the small town in a circle. No one could leave. We were trapped. "Go! Use the trees!" I advised the people. The peacekeepers and I tried our best to keep the fire away and the people to safety, but we failed. One by one they burned. I looked around in despair as the fire closed in around me. It was the Royal City all over again, except this time... No one would survive.

I dropped to my knees and covered my ears. I braced myself for the worst and tried not to hear the screams. What pain must it have been. I cried. I knew Sheila and her reunited family were dead. Burned alive.

Under the dying screams I heard slow footsteps. I slowly rose my head in confusion and saw a pair of feet in front of me. I looked up and a man looked down on me. He had black hair and wore a black robe with a white sash and golden linings. He didn't smile, nor did he look afraid. I looked around and the fire seemed to have stopped spreading. I got up and looked at the male closer. It's him. The male Sheila mentioned.

"Who are you?" I asked him. It had been hours before I spoke with him. I was angry. I knew it was him who had done it. Twice. He killed my people twice. "I am Zeref." He said. He was still young. Somewhere in his early twenties, I guess. "Did you do that?" I asked, just to be sure and looked at him, a feeling of rage welling up inside of me. "Do what?" Zeref didn't look at me as he spoke. He just looked at the bird he was stripping of its feathers. "The fire." was all I could say without the chunk in my throat cutting it out. Zeref looked at me with that emotionless expression he always had. "They would have died anyway." These words caused a raging fire inside me and I stood up and yelled. "They were just fine until you came around." I would have never done that if I knew what would follow. Zeref's eyes turned red and before I knew it I was pinned down in the ground by some sort of gravity field. "They were mortal." He walked towards me, glaring, but his voice was calm and still. "They would have died eventually." The gravity returned to normal and I got up. Furious this time. "It is not your decision to make! There were children with them!" Zeref returned to stripping the bird. "And besides, why did you spare me?" I asked, calming myself. Zeref took the insides out of the bird and pressed a stick with a sharp point through it. "You're useful." He hung the bird over the fire we made. "Your body is strong." Another thing I didn't understand. I still don't. "What do you mean?" I looked at myself and, yeah, I was strong because of my military training, but I wasn't sure if that's what he meant... I looked into the flames and thought about how that man could have set a fire so big it could destroy an entire city. Asking him would be a waste of time. He was a closed book. "I'll go get some more wood..." I stood up and walked further into the woods. Should I run? No, I had too many questions and I needed him to answer them. Traveling with him wasn't so bad anyway. I had food, fire and someone who defended me.

As we traveled he taught me some weird words. I had to keep repeating them in the right order. I wasn't sure what it meant, but nothing scary happened. After a while I figured out he was tutoring me. He called it 'Magic'. I had never heard of it, but it's something that allows you to manipulate the nature of things. For example, he can let things die by just thinking about it. However, I had no idea that he was teaching me the same thing before it was too late. He had me hold out my hand and say the words he had been teaching me. Next thing I knew I was holding a black orb in my hand. "Throw it." I looked at Zeref in confusion. He pointed to a boulder and I threw the orb in its direction. It burned right through it, leaving a perfect round hole in the stone. That's when it hit me. He was training me to kill. I tried to run, but Zeref pulled the same trick as before. I was pressed onto the ground and unable to move.

The following days, months, years I just put up with it. My grudge against him grew bigger and bigger as I found out more and more about his intentions. He was willing to kill everyone that was not able to use magic. Even the ones who were able to, but in his eyes not strong enough. I didn't understand why I was so much different. 'You're useful. Your body is strong.' These words kept running through my head.

One day, when we were making camp at an open place in the forest, Zeref put a hand on my shoulder. The first physical contact we had after three years of travelling. Again he murmured some words in that strange language, but this time I was able to understand since he taught me. He was cursing me. "Why did you do that?" I guess I became kinda straight-forward with him. "Because I need you." Again these words. I hated them. "What do you need me for?" I asked, getting irritated by his riddles. "You'll find out in time." I could have expected that answer. It's the one he gives me when he doesn't want me to know something. "Fine..." We lay down and I thought for a while before I fell asleep. My nights were always restless before something bad was gonna happen, so what I saw the next morning didn't surprise me. It just scared me.

When I woke there were people tied up to a tree. They were terrified. Zeref stood before them and called me. I got up and stood next to him, but what happened next I did not expect. "Do it." He said shortly. It was my test. "What?" I replied, hoping to postpone this madness. Zeref looked at me, an expression of force in his eyes. "Kill them." I knew what he meant. Our magic, black magic, can only kill if the caster's will is strong enough. I extended my arms sideways, fists clutched except for my index and little finger at my left hand and my index and middle finger at my right hand. I turned my arms anti-clockwise until my palms touched in front of me. In the motion I felt my power increasing and a purple-black foggy wind formed around my feet. "Repent." I said as my palms rested on each other. The people tied to the tree lost their lives in one instant. I had to take effort to keep back my tears. "I'm sorry..." I whispered to them. Guess I was more afraid of Zeref than I was of taking someone's life. The mage showed a satisfied nod and turned to get his stuff. I followed his example and took up my coat and arching supplies. "You're getting there." Zeref said. I looked away. "You will reach your destiny with this. Eventually." I ignored it. But it haunts me every day.

A few nights after that happened I ran away. I was lucky that I'm swift. I am fast and my agility is great, thanks to my hunting career. I ran until I couldn't feel my feet anymore. But still I didn't feel safe. Even though I had a two days and three nights advance on him. I tripped and fell, unable to get up again. I felt like dying. But I couldn't. I would never die.

That was the curse he put on me. To live forever. Without aging.

I don't remember much of what happened after that. Just that I kept moving and he hasn't found me yet. Or he has, but doesn't show himself.

I'd like to think the first.