A Heart Of Blackland Forest

PROLOGUE

EMERALD VALLY, GOLDENWHISP FOREST
DECEMBER 1956

The night was young. The moon had only been out for a short time. The moonlight danced in the long grass. The field ran for miles, disappearing into the far and endless sky.

Sitting below the stars was a dark haired boy. He couldn't have been older than late teens but appearances could be far more than deceiving in this life. He stared down at his hand to a ring sitting upon his middle finger. The ring was golden, not fake gold or foil but pure gold. Pale green topaz was embedded in it.

He eyed the ring like it was poisonous. His mind was at war. He couldn't decipher the line between keeping the ring or throwing it into a bottomless sea where it could never be found and where it wouldn't be tormenting him. He didn't want to hold on to the royal seal it was a reminder of what he was leaving behind and what he was abandoning.

He touched the ring with two fingers, he was about to slide it of his finger but paused when it grew cold. The temperature dropped, leaving an icy chill. The dark haired boy felt a presence lurking near. When the presence drew nearer he rose to his feet, grass that had once clinged to his trousers  fell behind in the dust of where he sat.

"Who's there," he called into the night.

Silence.

"Don't play with me. I know your there. Stop hiding and come face me."

He looked around, turning in circles to see into every nook and cranny in surrounding trees but nothing. There was only the rustlings of leaves and the whisper of wind.

In an abrupt manner light flashed and in a blink of an eye a cloaked figure stood before him.

There was no trace or evidence as to who or what was underneath that hood. Girl or boy, women or man. Nothing. The only thing he could tell about the cloaked figure was it had a thing for old, grey cloaks.

Unconsciously he began fiddling with the ring on his finger. "Who are you," he repeated in a low tone.

He could of sworn he saw a smile beneath the cloak. It wasn't a nice smile but a vicious one.

"I asked you a question," he hissed. "Answer."

"It is not wise to taunt me, son of Lord Micah."

The dark haired boy—the son of a Lord froze. How did this stranger know who he was? He replayed his words in his head and focused on his voice. It was deep and husky.

A flash.

"How do you know who I am," he demanded, looking back. But when he looked ahead he saw nothing.

"Over here," came from his side. He turned, the cloaked figure was standing next to a tree. A flash. "Or here." The hooded figure was now by another tree, farther away this time. Another flash. "Here." The cloaked figure was now at a tree behind him. Instantly he turned and followed the direction of the voice. The figure was leaning against a tree, long and wide sleeves flowing with the wind.

The cloaked figure was enjoying this and wasn't about to give up any information. "I know many things. For example, you plan to throw the royal seal into dead man's creak. Sad wasting such a valuable piece. You could always donate it to the less fortunate or something. Hmm? No."

The Lord's son's impatience was rolling off him in waves. It wouldn't have been a surprise if people from miles away could feel it.

"Last chance and final warning, who are you? What do you want." He said one word at a time. The hooded figure pushed off the tree, standing to his full height. Only now could how tall the figure was really was be seen.

"I am the person who is going to take what you hold most dear." A sneer from the dark haired boy. "And, what I want is something you can't give me, but it is something I can take," he said with a certain kind of power in his voice. His word sounded like a promise but that's all they were, words.

In an instant flash the hooded figure stood right before him and in one swift move drove a hand into his chest. He grunted. Adrenaline was in his blood and he could barely feel a thing. His skin was going pale, his eyes were wide not fully processing what they just saw. His heart was rapid, beating vastly into the palm that had grasped it.

"You know I could have done this from far away but I wanted to see the look on your face when I did this, I wanted to look you in the eye when you realise what I am taking from you," the hooded figure hissed into his ear. He slightly drew his head back to do exactly what he said, look him in the eye and see his face. 

He ripped his hand right out of the dark haired one's chest, a bloodless beating heart was in his palm. He pushed away, from the body that soon fell to its knees. The Lord's son groaned in pain, a dying cry. With one sturdy hand he grasped his chest, scratching at it to find a hole but he could only feel ripped cotton and smooth hard skin.

The light had left his eyes and he was still panting. He wasn't sure what was happening. Though uneven he was breathing, which wasn't possible, he didn't have a heart any longer.

"How do you feel." He looked up at the hidden face behind the cloak with confusion and pain etched across his face. "Oh, wait, that's right, you can't feel, you don't have a heart," the words were spoken more to the heart in his hand than to Lord's son who was still on his knees.

He didn't feel any pain which he couldn't understand and there was no blood on his chest nor on his heart. With his role in life he had seen quite strange things, from mind invasion to persuasion but never anything like this.

"I'll be holding on to this." The hooded figure flicked the ring into the air and caught it with ease. "Like I said a valuable piece and has a special place in your heart, well what was your heart." The dark haired one didn't know how his ring was taken from him but he also wasn't bothered to look down at his hand to be sure if it was even his ring.

"Enjoy the rest of your heartless existence." He vanished and as he did so a star twitched in the sky.

Left alone, on his keens, a Lord's son.

Hello readers,
Thank you to those who are giving this a chance. I know this might seem boring but I promise it will get better, this is only the prologue not the first chapter, so please just stick around a bit longer before you decide you don't like this book.
So when I say heart of Blackland Forest I mean it in the most literal way. I should update in a few days. Also this hasn't been edited, so if you see any mistakes just let me know.

Comment! Share! Vote! It would mean a lot to me!

Flower In Fire.

Xoxo