|:| Heir |:|

|:| Part III |:|

July 2006.

"Ca'el!" The girl's voice rang out in the wood, her scrambling up to her feet. She could feel the heat; no, not the summer heat. The heat from its breath. She could almost taste the blood of the innocents the beast had sunk its fangs onto, she could almost feel the heat reaching her back...

Then it stopped. She hurriedly reached a small bush, curling into a ball. Soft growls, soft sniffs were heard as the monster turned around, searching for hints of where she might be. The small girl covered her mouth, attempting to muffle her breathing. She closed her eyes, praying for her life.

She opened it, slowly, one by one. And staring back at her was a pair of blood red eyes.

A bloodcurdling scream was enough to tell the boy where his friend was. He rushed up to the highest point, in his hand a stick. The wolfish creature was hovering over the girl, about to sink its razor sharp fangs into her, to end her. To make her its next victim-

"Hey, you bastard!" The boy threw a stick at him, its head turning around. He winced slightly at the putrid smell. "Yeah! Come after me!"

Before anything else could happen, an arm picked the boy up and before his vision went dark, he swore he saw a blinding light and slight purple on his right.

December 2018, Present, Monday evening.

"Look who's here, mama boy's back." A sneering voice was heard overhead as Ca'el found himself thrown down, his back hitting the fence hard. Like, really hard. Three figures stood in front of him, a sneer upon their lips. His lips were burst and his face, body were all bruised. He recognized them all as bastard, and nothing more. He didn't really bother to remember names of jackasses. The tallest guy pulled him up by his collar, Ca'el wincing at the pain, "Beg us to save you then."

He pursed his lips tightly, a scowl curling on his lips, "Fuck you, you can go to h-"

He was cut off by a brutal hit on his stomach, the impact knocking the air out of his lungs as he fell onto his knees. His hands curled into fists against the cold, hard ground, biting back bitter tear.

Don't let them have the satisfaction of winning. They. Aren't. Winning.

He slowly got up, glaring at the three. The mocking laughter was drowned by the blood roaring in his ears, him slowly staggering towards the guy who hit him the most. His steel blue eyes were icy cold, hatred and venom rushing through his body. Maybe fighting against him was a bad idea, maybe he could be seriously injured. But he didn't care. He hated it, he hated being treated like a weakling. Whoever said he wanted those nightmares?! Whoever said he could help feeling weak after each?!

"Oh, he's getting back up now." The guy in the middle, Jackass Number one, sneered as he strutted over. He shoved Ca'el down again, now kneeling in front of him, "Why? Going to call your precious girlfriend over, Cameron? That...what was her name again? Desa Delta?"

"Well, go ahead, I don't fucking care. She's going to go down. In the end, you two are just losers." He mocked, gripping his collar.

Did he just...call Desa a loser? He couldn't believe his ears. His facial muscles twitched as he gripped Jackass Number one's wrists. This small ball of unspeakable anger finally burst, him raising his leg swiftly, hitting his groin and making him fall own beside him. Pushing him away roughly, he stood up, but the other two were too fast.

He closed his eyes, trying to cover his face as he was kicked down onto the ground but strangely, there was a purple glow from the small enclosure of his arms.

His right cheek...purple...

"What the-"

"Yeah, we knew he was freak! Beat him up-"

He didn't give a second shit, gripping on the of the guy's leg and pulling him down. He was almost hit by that small knife in the guy's hand, turning to stand up when he faced another pointy edge at his neck. Barely an inch away.

"Y-"

"I wouldn't finish the sentence if I were you." A cold, yet familiar voice was heard. A split second later, the knife that bastard was holding onto hit the ground uselessly, the dagger which had hit it lodging deeply into the wooden fence. Ca'el glanced at the guy's hand, which had a thin cut upon it, blood slowly dripping down. Desa walked forward, glaring at the guy as she gripped his collar, threatening to punch him. "If you ever hurt him again, I will knock your teeth out and make sure you become incapable of using whatever small shit you have down there. He's my friend."

It was impossible not to turn on anyone with that attitude of hers and her ferocity.

She pulled her dagger out, rushing to Ca'el with a worried expression. Totally different from what dark aura she had earlier. Back to that soft girl, which honestly scared him slightly. "I'm so sorry I didn't come earlier."

Her dagger was back in its scabbard, her combing through her hair with her fingers uncomfortably as she chewed in her cheek. He could still smell her normal rose scent from her, she was the same person...right?

While he was busy gaping stupidly at her, she brushed her hand against his cheeks, which the purple had subsided much. It still had that soft hue to his right cheek, but half of him was freaking out at her actually touching his cheek. Her hand was cold against his warm skin, her brows slightly furrowed as she seemed to have realized something.

"I don't have much time to explain, and I don't have the water to make you forget this. Ca'el, promise me you'll go straight home. Don't ask any questions, when Rachel and Kent ask you, just answer them what happened. They'll understand. I might not be in school for the next few days. But try and keep a low profile even in school." She sighed, brushing her thumb against his cheek one last time before her body turned around to leave.

He gripped her wrist, stopping her abruptly. First time in twelve years he finally had a small tug on his string and now she was just...going off like that? He frowned slightly, refusing to let go. She pursed her lips, tugging on her arm, "Kale-"

"No, you can't just leave like that. Not without giving me answers! I waited twelve years, Desa! Twelve years for me to get something to ask about, and now you're...you're just walking off with telling me with zip up about it?!" He raised his voice unknowingly, his grip on her wrist tightening. He was vexed, more than ever. That he didn't see that small wince she gave when his grip tightened even more. "Tell me!"

"I promise I will, Ca'el. But Queen Aeryn, your mother-" Desa paused, realizing she said too much even with that. She drew in a small breath before continuing, "I promise I will tell when the time is right but right now we need to stay low, your location have just been released by the Gaven activating."

"But, how-"

"I promise I'll tell you when the time is right." She managed to get her arm away, him looking at her small figure running back to the direction of her home. He glanced around at the groaning or unconscious bodies, maybe she's right...

He rushed back, stumbling at times due to pain shooting up his entire body but he continued. The night was dark, cold biting his cheeks. There was a faint sound of a dog barking in the neighborhood.

He burst through the front door, gasping slightly at the sudden rush of warmth from the fireplace. His mother and father walked towards him but he pushed them aside, rushing up to his room. Ca'el slammed the door shut behind him, locking it as he collapsed on the bed. His mind whirled with fragments of thoughts, him trying to get a few thoughts embedded into his mind. 

"Kale? Ca'el, please open the door. Desa told us what happened. We need to clean those wounds..." He ignored his parents' words, him fisting his bedsheets beneath him. What was going on?