Devoid Chronicles : Book 1 Blood Secrets

White Streak

Azari pov*
I stood knee deep in the creek, the water splashing against the shore creating a calming effect for me. It had been days since I truly felt relaxed. Taking a deep breath, my eyes began to trace my surroundings. Luminous green trees stretched up far beyond my eyes could reach. The smell of citrus and salt hung heavy in the air, birds chirped away in the trees.
This wasn't my home.
I whirled around in the water to find the man in the yellow cloak parched on a rock staring at me.
"Took you a long time to notice that, huh." A low chuckle rumbled from his throat. This was the most human he's ever sounded.
I should have known I was dreaming.
"Got tired of the white walls?" I joked. Pushing myself towards the shore, I soaked in the beauty of the area.
"Black walls, and you broke them so this is our meeting place now." I looked at the person sitting on the rock and noticed that his feet were bare, bottom of his cloak dripping was wet.
"Someone was playing in the water, wasn't he? And what do you mean I broke the walls?" My feet touched the shore, and I took in a deep breath. A feeling I've never felt before pulsed through my body. My senses were all heightened, every nerve ending on my body was alive. I balled my hands into fist and tried to focus.
"Yes, I play in the water from time to time, this is after all my birth place." The man stood from the rock and began to dabble his feet in the water. He didn't react to the ground like I did.

"You were born here? Aren't you a part of my imagination?" The feeling was beginning to subside. I flopped down on the shore, and looked up into the sky. Huge storm clouds hung heavy in the air, but the smell of rain didn't. The man brushed off my question like I didn't say anything.
"Does it rain here a lot?" This time the cloaked mans body posture changed. My words must have hit a nerve, he must have lost interest in the water as he retreated back to his rock.
"It used to thunder here often, but no, I've never got rain." He pointed a finger in the air and lighting shot across the sky.
"We get a lot of that though." A low chuckle began to bubble from the man on the rock.
"Okay, cloaked man, are you going to tell me why I'm here or are we going to keep playing in the water?" The figure turned to me and I was surprised to see him smiling.
"I'm not keeping you here, you're here on your own decor. Be warned when you return to the outside world, things have changed." He said returning his eyes to someone in the distance. A small portal distorted the area around it. I hadn't noticed it before then.
"That's your way out, if you want to go." He stood from the rock and began to head towards the woods.
"Hey, wait." The man stopped and waited for me to speak.
"You never told me your name." I stood from the ground, wiping my pants off.
"That isn't important." He continued to walk towards the tree line. Where could he be going? I began to walk after him when I noticed something stitched into a tree behind the rock the man sat on. 

In the hand writing of a little kid,
A little kid that was me.
A memory began to tug at my brain when a loud noise began to radiate from the portal. Taking a final look at the tree I jog towards the hole in this strange place. As I approached, lighting rain from the sky; illuminating the entire scenery in a ghostly blue hue. Raising a single hand to the portal, I could feel the air pressure around me increase.

*****

I was laying flat on my back. The feeling of relaxation was gone, replaced by the feeling of rocks pushing into my back. Sitting up, I and found myself in a empty tent. The sun was sitting low in the sky. Instead of smell of citrus, the smell of burning wood filled my nose. The previous day was a blur to me,
How long has I been sleeping?
Voices drifted from the mouth of my tent, following the voices,I pushed the flaps of my tent back to find Zae, Mal, Scarlet and Shadow sitting around the fire, each with a plate in their hand.

"No one was going to wake me up to eat I'm guessing." Zae shot to his feet followed by Shadow, Scarlet lept to Mal's side placing herself between us.
Odd.
"How long have you been standing there?" Zae's asked never taking him eyes off of me.
"I just woke up, how come your acting so funny?" I took a step towards my family, before I was presented with Zae's palm . The wind began to pick up around me and I stopped.
"Is someone going to tell me what's going on?" Mal pushed his way from behind Scarlet, and began to walk towards me.
"You've been asleep for 3 days." Mal was standing at my side now.
3 days?
There is no way I'd been sleeping for three days. The last thing I remembered was Mal being shot. My hand moved instantly towards Mal's stomach, there was no wound. By instinct I pulled Mal into a hug. Zae's body tensed, and Shadow took a step towards us.
"Azari." Zae took another step towards me. The wind began to pick up throwing my hair across my face.
"Is someone going to tell me whats going on?" Mal repeated, voice taking on a more annoyed tone.
What was going on?
Placing a hand on Mal's shoulder, I moved so I was positioned in front of him.