My head is spinning when I manage to open my blue , now stained red eyes. A small fire rumbles close by me and the dark flames mimic my red hair. I am lying in a soft bed, covered in at least three warm wolf skin blankets. I feel like I am back in my own bed and nothing happened. It was all just a bad dream. I move my body and scream out in pain and remember that it was real. I am injured badly as my body begins to wake up and become more aware, I realize I can't feel my right leg. I panic as I realize I have no idea what situation I have brought upon myself.
A man enters the room, making no effort to step softly. He easily towers a foot and a half over me and is so built he barely fits through the small door frame. His skin is dark from the burning rays of the sun but his hair is a soft silver. His deep green eyes glow faintly in the fire and fixate on me as I realize I'm staring at him. My body shivers, not from the coldness inside me, but from the power radiating from him. He places a crooked black staff he is holding down beside the fireplace and takes a seat in the large leather chair beside the flames, the creak of his weight against it breaks the silence.
"It's not very smart to stray from your Light into the Darkness, Akari." He states bluntly with no compassion in his voice.
My heart stops. He is a Mut, a rebel and known loaner in the Darkness. We are taught in training that these people are to never be trusted as their actions prove that no amount of love can ever lead them to the Light.
He is going to kill me.
"Don't speak to me like that, Mut! You're nothing but scum!"
The words spit out of my mouth sharper than the flames stoking on the fire. My heart stops again. I am in no position to talk back to him.
No emotion is found in his eyes as he locks with mine and stares me down. My mind is racing as I try to contemplate how I can get out of this situation. He stands slowly and begins to walk towards the bed, his face still emotionless. He stops mere inches from the edge of the bed and kneels down beside it.
"You have spirit in you, I'll give you that. Most of you Akari just beg for mercy or start calling out to that Light shit you believe in. I can say this is the first time I've been talked back to."
He raises the back of his hand to my face and I brace myself for a blow but instead find him gently touching it to my forehead.
"You have a fever from your little swim. Your leg is also infected, you're lucky you even got to keep it. Get some rest and in the morning I'll show you just how much of a piece of "scum" I can be."
He stands and walks slowly out of the room, his boots pounding against the wooden floor as he grabs the doorknob and glances over his shoulder at me. I look into his eyes once more. I feel peace in them.
