第3章 永恩－救赎（1/3）

severed

by michael yichao

the boy ran at a dead sprint， driven by terror.

under the ning moon， darkness swallowed his surroundings with only the faintest starlight giving a silver sheen to the misty night. silhouettentern in the boy’s hand flickered and nger of snuffing out. but it warknered.

it wat stalked him in the darkness.

the boy had felt it first—a sudden chill in the creeping dread that clutched at hitions that he might have dis symptomte hour and a long night. on any other occave chastised himself for indulging in hition. he was thirteen now， too old to be afraid of darting rmless spirits.

but thid opened glowing blue eyered into hidow had whime.

the boy rince behind to see if it nd promptly slammed into something. he fell back， the breath knocked from hind hittered to hik light fluttering wildly. in shifted quickly to fear as he saw the figure looming over hiwww.

a man， tall and lithe， re torzed by the unusually chilly night. from the waist down， loose robes billowed in the wind， frayed from wear. an intricate belt of woven rope tied croist， mongebages bound both hich hand grade—one of tempered steel， shimmering in the moonlight， the other n ominous red.

yet it wace that left the boy frozen.

those cold blue eyes peered down through a cruel mated the nge red ade. the man’rly devouring his stern frown.

“ck!” the boy croaked.

“it is not me you r，” the man spoke， hi soft growl， eyes fixed on some point beyond the boy.

confusion knit the boy’s he followed the man’t he mbling to hi vague shape hovered in the minger hadn’t pointed it out， the boy might have miltogether. the mist twisted into wide eyes and nd the outline o******mbering body took form， visible where it puy to leave a negative space. the boy squinted. something else glistened in the foggy night… teeth?

he had never seen anything like it， yet it miliar. like the boy knew