Prologue (J) - Midnight Hunt

The trees flash past, appearing a sickly pale color through my mask. Despite the wind in the leaves and the cracking of sticks under my feet, I can still hear powerful wingbeats in the night air. I’ve been running as fast as I can for several minutes, yet my pursuer still won’t lose my trail.

“Look out!” Calypso’s voice rings loud in my ear. Without thinking, I hurl myself to the side as a streak of flame scorches the path I followed moments before. A sharp rock jutting out of the ground collides with my stomach, thankfully not breaking any skin. I barely stifle a gasp of pain. I can’t afford to make any more sound than necessary. As quietly as I can, I pull myself back to my feet and take off yet again.

“You can’t run forever,” my pursuer calls into the night. “Your glider’s burnt to a crisp, you’re almost out of energy, and you’re exhausted. Just stand down and make this easier on both of us.” I refuse to give his demands a response. The man is right, I can’t run forever. But the coastal town isn’t far away now. I’ll be safe, if I can only reach it. Fighting the burning agony of overuse in my legs, I continue pushing on. It shouldn’t be far now. I just have to push a little farther-

I stumble to a stop, falling over backwards and grabbing hold of a protruding tree root just in time. My legs dangle over the edge of the cliff I nearly failed to see in the darkness. I scramble to my feet, but it’s already too late. A wall of flame erupts a short distance away on either side of me, streaming from either hand of my pursuer. The man’s winged beast lands, and I get a look at his face. It’s covered by a mask, almost identical to mine. That must be how he navigated the darkness of the forest in the dead of night.

The man dismounts from his beast and draws his blade, a blade far too large for an ordinary human to even lift without considerable effort. With his other hand, he draws a far deadlier weapon, a small object with a familiar blue light streaking from the battery down the length of the barrel.

“So, you’ve finally stopped running. You’ve caused a lot of problems, you know. But you don’t have anywhere left to run.” To my left and right is flame. Behind me is a bare cliff face. And standing before me is a man far too powerful to ever defeat, a tag glinting on his chest in the firelight. The man is right. My only option for survival is to submit to whatever fate he has in store.

“It seems you’re aware of your situation. So, what will it be? Are you going to throw your life away? Or are you going to do the sensible thing and surrender? I’ll let you make your choice.”

...Do I surrender, and go back to them? It’s the only way I could possibly survive. ...But I know that’s not true. Going back would just be a prolonged death sentence. A long, excruciating wait for death. And escape won’t be possible either, they’ll be sure of that. Nothing is worth going through that again.

“...Fine, then. I’ve made my choice.” Without a second of hesitation, I turn my back to the man and jump forward into the dark abyss, the night’s silence broken only by Calypso and my pursuer’s shouts of shock.