Legend Of Pandora

Prologue

Ashforest was famous for its diverse trees. Their leaves were pale, and the stump was a grey-ish brown. The leaves were withering away, slowly, but surely.
The whole forest has been lit on fire a few decades past, and the ashes of the trees that did not survive covered the grass. A single flower was growing in the forest. It was a wonder that life could exist in this dead, depressing forest.

The trees themselves were rotten and hollow from the inside. They were leaning slightly, as if they were pointing towards those who dared to travel through the wasteland.
Not many people did.

But today, a man had traveled in the Ashforest. His intentions are unknown, though usually when a man chooses to go through the wastelands instead of the regular pathways, it meant he does not wish to be seen.

The man was wearing a cloak, covering the majority of his face.
He held a dagger, and his shirt was ripped and dirty. He walked slowly, and one of his legs were stretching behind.

The man had noticed the lone flower. He picked it up, and stared at it for a while.
It was a beautiful flower. A vibrant pink, though the parts that the man had touched were now stained with blood.
He pulled the flower out of  the ground, threw it on the floor of ashes, and stepped on it.

He then kept going.

He had a leather bag on his back. Through the folds of it, you could see there was a cube inside. Whatever it was, it must have been important.
The moon reflected in the man’s dagger. It was a full one, and it was slowly setting down, soon, it would be sunrise. The dagger had a symbol on it. An strange symbol , it resembled the shape of a shell.
A spiral in the center of it, and around it a red triangle, which was slowly fading away.

After around an hour of traveling in the Ashforest, the man settled down to rest. He laid the bag near him, and sat on a rock.
Then, the man heard a noise behind him. He was not alone.
A young child was sitting on top of a nearby tree. He was staring at the man, and he started pulling a bow out of his bag. The child aimed at the man, and they both made eye contact.

The child’s eyes were dark purple. A natural color for a Bloodmix.
Or at least he seemed like a Bloodmix. He had long, sharp teeth, which stuck out of his mouth even when it was shut.

The man’s eyes, on the other hand were pale grey.
He had hatred in his eyes, for sure. Though It wasn’t clear whether this hatred was of the Bloodmix-child, or for himself.

“Put down the bow.”  The man demanded. “I will not hurt you, and we shall split, each one on his separate way.”

The child did not reply.

“I SAID, put down the BOW!” the man shouted.

The child looked confused. He may not speak the common tongue.
He said something, though it was in a different language, which consisted of hisses and high-pitched sounds.

The man had known the language. It was the language of the Bloodmixes.
He was indeed one of  those, the man thought.

“Put down the bow. We shall both go in different ways; no one has to be harmed. “, The man said in Bloodmixian.

“No.” said the Bloodmix. “My way is yours, Serpent.”

“Then your way shall be cut.” Said the man and pulled out his dagger.
He did not want to show it, but the way the Bloodmix called him ‘serpent’ was offending to a man in his position.

“We’ll see about that one, Serpent.” Said the Bloodmix.
He shot the bow, and hit the man’s leg.

The man swore and fell down.
The child jumped of the tree and landed safely on the Ash.
The Bloodmix’s bow was an interesting design. It was designed to function as a sword, as well. The edges were sharp, long, and coated in metal. He flipped the bow and prepared to stab the man.

Though the man cut his leg, and the child fell. They both proceeded to fight each other whilst still laying on the ground, and they got covered in ash, which stuck to the blood. The Bloodmix fought well, though not many could defeat a Serpent in melee combat. The man sticked his dagger in the Bloodmix’s forehead, and pulled it down in order to rip the rest of his face in half.

The man washed his dagger clean in a nearby river, and left the Bloodmix’s body where they fought, and set it on fire, so that the child would become one with the ash floor of the wasteland.

Though by then the man realized his bag was gone.
The Bloodmix was a distraction, he thought. His clanmates must have stolen the bag while they were talking,

That was terrible news, as the man made a deal with his master..
In order to have his fellow Serpents forget his sins, he had to deliver that box to the Anaconda, The leader of the Serpents, or else..  He preferred not to think of his punishment.