Colorless

28 - Colorless Flames

After a full day of running, Rinian found himself in a strange forest that had once been taken by a fire. Low brush covered the ground like strange white snow. Twisted, limbless trunks burst up from the undergrowth, charred black from the wildfire. A few trees remained intact and recovered from the flames with shivering leaves. They dotted the landscape.

Rinian enjoyed the break from dull, unending plains. Although the forest looked as though it had been destroyed, it was filled with wildlife. Squirrels and other rodents shook the brush as they darted about. Birds flew in flocks from tree to tree, settling for just a minute before taking off again. He even saw a family of deer bound away as he got too close. The animals provided entertainment and company for Rinian. With them around, he felt a little less alone. He slowed his run and masked his presence so as not to disturb them.

The setting sun painted the forest in warm reds and yellows, and the fresh air filled his lungs. Rinian smiled for the first time that day. The forest, though half dead, was the liveliest place he'd seen so far. It gave him an odd sense of hope that something so touched by death could live again. Maybe he could experience that same rebirth in his own life. Maybe he really could escape his life filled with death and fear and hatred and start a new one.

He had escaped. He was free now. He wasn't going back.

Even as Rinian told himself that, he felt a growing dread. He was only nine. How could he live on his own? What would he do? Where would he go?

Rinian pushed those thoughts aside. He'd come up to a branch with a small squirrel clinging to the bark. It kept watch with beady, black eyes, but Rinian suspected it hadn't seen him yet. Sure enough, when he reached his hand out to touch the animal's shiny fur, it didn't stop its work sniffing at the branch in front of it. His finger hovered over its head. He knew that if he touched the animal, it would run away or bite him. But soon the temptation became too much, and he ran the pad of his finger over its smooth back. The squirrel chirped in anger and surprise. It leapt to the ground and disappeared in the brush.

Rinian let out a breath and hid his presence once more. He wondered if his mother had even noticed his absence yet. Even if she had, after all the other times he'd slipped away, would she know that he never planned on returning? Would she care?

After expelling the heart he'd eaten from his body, Rinian hadn't noticed anything strange. No new powers or cravings overcame him. He felt the same as he always had. The only difference being in his newfound determination to get away from his mother and her way of living. She was toxic, just like the hearts she feasted on. Rinian wanted an honest life.

Maybe, he thought, he could stay in the forest. He didn't need much food, and what little nourishment he did need could be gathered from the plants growing around him. He didn't know much about which plants were poisonous and which safe to eat, but he knew his body would be able to fight off any poisons so long as he didn't eat too much. Shelter would pose a problem, but so long as he had somewhere to lay, he could withstand some rain or wind. He had fantasies of making friends with the animals living around him like the stories of feral children being raised by bears or packs of wolves. They'd create their own family far away from the evil of humans

He'd been sitting on a fallen tree imagining his new life well into the night before he felt it. It was a feeling he couldn't explain, but he recognized it immediately. Death.

Before he could think about what he was doing, Rinian was running toward the source. He couldn't ignore it even though he had no idea what he was planning to do when he got there. As he got closer, the feeling grew stronger. It was overwhelming. The smell of blood reached him long before he found the bodies. Across a small river, the landscape changed to an older, unmarred forest with large trees and little undergrowth, and the world around him went silent.