Einder Bloodline

Chapter 28: Memories

Merely moments ago Cray was dragged mid-air as he screamed continuously and as soon as he entered a new environment he noticed that he was now inside a forest and on his vision was the small silhouette of two boys walking side by side.

"Hey, wait for me!" a chubby little boy was calling out to the one in front of him. He was already out of breath.

"Hehe! That's why I told you to stop eating so much! Look how tired you've gotten from just climbing up here." A boy who looked like Nick but much more younger spoke while he danced around showing how much energy he had left to spare.

"Is this dad?" Cray with his mouth opened wide looked at the two carefully. "That guy, why does he look so familiar?" Cray then noticed that the chubby little one had some similarities with Nick.

"Are they brothers?...." Cray then remained silent as he was reminded as he could still remember the time Note showed him how his actual father had died. That time, Nick's brother had killed him.

Although right now they both had no clue as to what their future would bring. All they were at this moment was just two young boys who are still naive and innocent, in fact, even he would not be able to predict how this seemingly sweet duo would one day go at each other's throat.

"Hey! I'm going to leave you at this rate! HAHAHAHAHA! Come and catch me!" The young Nick cheekily ran farther away from his little brother.

"Wait! If you leave me here I'm going to tell Papa okay? Wait! It's just a joke I won't tell anyone so please don't leave me!" His younger brother then tried to run with his very wobbly steps.

Eventually, the two had reached Cray, but as Cray wanted to talk to them they didn't give out any response. It was as if they couldn't see him.

So, instead of trying to talk to them, Cray tapped the shoulder of the young Nick in attempts to try and take his attention. But just as he was about to touch Nick's shoulder, he was surprised by how his hand had just gone past through as if he was a ghost with no corporeal body. It just felt like touching nothing but air.

To further support his conjecture he had tried a couple more times, but he still couldn't touch them. In the end, they would only run past through Cray no matter how much he tried to block or hinder them. This continued until both of them reached the inner depths of the woods.

As Cray was messing around trying to make Nick notice him while they were running, he was suddenly alerted by a loud sound of something crashing down into the ground. "B-BRotheR! It hurts! I got an owwie! Help me!"

Nick's younger brother had tripped on one of the stones that were hidden by the growth of wildlife and vegetation. He then cried as he saw how his bruise started bleeding as his red blood began to slowly trickle away from the scrape that was on his leg.

"Geh- This is bad. Wait! I'm going to do something about it. It's gonna be okay! Stop crying please?" Nick then tore off the right sleeve of his shirt and used it as a bandage to stop the bleeding.

"This will do for now okay? Stop crying already." Nick had a very panicked voice. He knew that he was going to be in deep trouble after this. He had gone off once again in the forest that his father warned him not to go into and he even got his little brother bruised.

"Don't tell papa that we went all the way here okay? If he asks you later make sure you tell him that you tripped on the stairs and you got it from there." Nick then gave his little brother a very stern look. He became afraid as he thought of his papa getting mad.

"If you tell papa then I won't play with you anymore!" Nick added, but it only caused his little brother to cry even more.

"Ahhh stop crying already! I'm going to leave you here if you still do!" Nick shouted as he also didn't know what else to do.

Surprisingly, the crying stopped so he took a look at his little brother. "Good boy, now I'm going to help you go home so don't cry anymore okay?"

"Th-ht-tath-that! Look! What's that?" Nick was astonished as he looked at the direction that his little brother was pointing out into.

He didn't know what that was, but it had a purple glow. It had a spiral shape and somehow it also seemed to catch their attention which captivated both of them.

Cray was also looking at the thing that was in front of him. He also didn't know what it was, but it looked eerie. Aside from that, the thing in front of him also gave out a somewhat terrifying yet familiar presence that was akin to how Robert or Alect looked at him. The feeling of prey that was being stalked by a large and powerful predator, that is probably how he would describe it if he were to be asked.

It looked like it was ready to devour him at any moment. By this time, he felt one of the most primal instincts of mankind and that is to run away from the danger. However, before he could even do so, what he heard had distracted him.

"I SMELL BLOOD!"

His guts were right. A blood-curdling scream came from that thing. Soon after that, a blackened hand with sharp and dark nails appeared right from the purple spiraling thing.

"What is that?" After softly muttering under his breath, the young Nick then attempted to cover his little brother. It was something admirable for his age as even Cray couldn't move his body from the mere pressure that the presence had exuded. 

"BLOOD! FRESH, YOUNG, AND TENDER BLOOD!"

Another shout had scared away the birds inside the forest as they immediately fled from their nests to flee this amalgamation of dread and terror.

"GO AWAY!" Nick, although he was still scared, had shouted away at the monster in front of him.

"WHO DARES DEFY ME?" After the arms, a head then popped out as the arms slowly dragged its body from the purple swirling portal by crawling away at the ground. It had two long horns on its forehead. The head was then followed by two wings. After it was the rest of the body with a pointed tail.

As soon as it managed to get its whole body through the portal, its wings stretched out as he bent his neck making cracking sounds. Looking at the young kids in front of this creature, it smiled with its sharp teeth and gave an amused look at Nick.

"I commend you for not running away brat! If you give me the one that's cowering in your back, then I'll even let you escape." It had a deep voice which did not seem human.

"NO! I'm not giving you my brother!" Nick resolutely stood as he picked up a fallen stick which he used as a weapon by posing in a similar stance that he picked up from watching knights when they practiced with wooden swords.

"Then have it your way!" The creature then made its way to Nick's chest aiming to pierce his heart.

Cray had already made his move, he was standing in front of the demon after seeing Nick doing his all trying to protect his little brother. Unfortunately, due to the sudden hot-bloodedness, he had forgotten one specific trait that he had and that was the fact that nobody can touch him in this place.

*Kachak*

The demon's hand which was making its way towards Nick was cut off.

"Don't you dare lay your filthy hands on my children!" A man's voice could be heard as he slowly walked towards the demon. He had a thin sword with him, it looked sharp.

Afterward, everything then began to turn black. Cray who was once again left in the darkness felt light envelop him, he turned around only to see that everything had changed.

He was now in front of a very large mansion. He saw Nick, this time the only difference was that he had grown into what seemed like the same age as him. After observing the surroundings, he also noticed that this time, Nick was wearing a very formal looking suit which gave him an aura of nobility.

"Today is the day, I'm going to finally become old enough to inherit the flames of my father."