Part One
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The world returned in layers, the green pulling slowly back. As it left, more things came into focus, and the roaring dimmed. The sounds of screaming rang through the air, and the raging of metal on metal cut through them. Castian blinked away more of the green film obscuring his vision. He wished his hadn't.
Vellis lay sprawled beside him, hand intruding into Castian's view. Beyond was where trouble started. They were laying in thick, stinking mud, and around them, fighting. Swords flashed in the dark, sparking off each other, and releasing sharp screeches that sounded like pain epitomized. Castian tried to sit, struggling with his drained muscles and the mud that fought to hold him. Vellis made a sound in the back of his throat, sliding an arm under him.
"What... What the hell did you do?" he snarled at Castian, but he ignored the other boy, eyes fixed ahead. As he'd sat, more of the battlefield had came into view. Rank after rank of the cat people--what had Deric called them in the sketch? Al'faen? Yeah, that was it--were massed, swords and pikes in their hands. Opposing them were slightly taller people with skin as pale as freshly fallen snow and eyes that glowed in the darkness. They fought, weapons clashing. And Castian and Vellis had fallen down in the middle of it. The sea of fighters moved around them, far, far too close.
Castian glanced around. Bodies were strewn across the ground from both sides. He spotted an even taller creature. It's deep blue skin had a thin layering of ice over it that cracked and splintered free as it moved. He couldn't tell which side it was on. His eyes flicked upwards and he froze.
The sun was a ring in the sky, a black pit where most of it should be. Weak light rimmed it, flickering and dancing like a candle flame. He stared at it, but the moon wasn't moving away. Just to the west of the moon something hazy hung in the air. It had to be a cloud, but it looked like an old chariot made of mist. Which it couldn't be, because that wasn't a thing.
Vellis' fingers bit sharply into his arm and he looked down.
"We have to get out of here," he snapped. "Before someone runs us through. Take us back. Now."
Castian swallowed, looking around. Vellis was right, not his favorite thought of all time. He focused on calling up the power. An arrow whistled through the air, shooting by far too close. He squeezed his eyes closed, fingers digging into the mud. They tingled. We need to get out of here, we have to get out of here. Castian's breathing was fast, slipping in and out in puffs. Vellis still gripped his arm. "Let go."
"No way," he hissed. "I am not getting stuck here."
"Let go, Vellis, I can't think with you squeezing my flesh off." Another arrow streaked by, he felt the wind off it, and heard the hiss. Someone nearby screamed. His teeth tightened. Work. Work, we need to go home. Nothing happened.
He opened his eyes. They locked with a woman in full armor. She lay on the ground in front of them, an arrow jutted from her chest, and blood coated her lips in red, trickling down her chin and soaking into her silver-brown fur. The look in her eyes tore away the breath inside his lungs. So much pain...
"Castian," Vellis snarled. "Now."
He tried again, he really did, calling out for the power, trying to feel his link to the Field, to anything. He couldn't. There was nothing. Panic coiled deep inside him, turing his stomach. The stink of blood filled the air.
The woman was still watching him, eyes fading.
"What... are you?" she whispered. Castian didn't reply, fingers sinking farther into the mud as he tried to focus. Focus on what? There was nothing there. No power waiting to slip in and fill him. Nothing. Castian let out a frustrated growl. A man almost backed into him, sword crashing against the blade of a pale woman with fiery hair. She darted forward, slamming his blade down and getting inside his reach. Blood spurted and her dagger jerked out of his neck as fast as it had entered. He crumpled. She stepped forward, a snarl on her lips. A sword was gripped in one of her hands, and the dagger remained in the other. Her eyes found Castian, and she lunged.
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Sorry this was really late, and the editing might um... yeah, I forgot I was supposed to do this and have been having a sort of terrible day. I'll try to re-edit it in a few days, so if you're a latecomer; good for you.
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An Assassin In Time
Science Fiction(ON HOLD) If time couldn't hold you, what would you do? Castian was born inside a Field, outside of time. He has no timeline. He belongs nowhere, and anywhere. The Field he was in was destroyed when he was young, and he and four other children...
