[graphic warning; torture; read at your own risk; not detrimental to the story experience if you chose not to read]
~~~
Fifty or so years ago, a child, a toddler, barely the age of four, sat in a cold, windowless room. The room smelled bitter of iron and stale of rot. Icy metal shackles scraped against skin, bound to ankles and wrists and one pinned tightly around the throat. Empty eyes searched the walls, tracing patterns that did not exist. A finger tapped the concrete below. Tap, Tap...
Tap.
A sigh.
And the metal crinkled and burst from its binding. The collar ripped off, colorful streaks of magic sparked between pins that attached on the inside. Rows of crimson painted down his neck from where the pins once embedded, slow, as if tears, soaking into old cotton fabric that draped on his torso and dying his long, white hair to red. A flame in his finger burned the open holes, ceasing the flow of liquid and sparking a few loose hairs in the way.
The boy was met with a tall metal door, deadbolted from the outside. Slightly tipping his palm against it, the door crumpled as if made of thin aluminum— the sound of high pitched creaking mixed with dull bending as the shape no longer retained and fell forward. Two beings rushed towards the sound and saw the short boy with no restraints shackled on him. Their irises shrank thin as their mouths bent and contorted in confusion, in horror.
"Mother, Father," the young boy spoke with a child's slur. "Won't you play with me?" And so he played. The way his parents seemed to have played with him. Water magic sprayed forward, and at contact, bound his parents' wrists and ankles in ice. Tight. Tighter. Bruising. Until the sounds of cracks mixed with the sounds of screams and wails and pleas.
"What other elements can you do? Air? Earth?" He imitated the words his parents would speak to him. Metal scraps from the rumpled door tore off and hugged the necks of the other two. Just as his own neck brace had, he made sharp needles pierce on the inside, tearing through their skin and meeting their spine. At their cries and begging, he mimicked what his mother had repeated when magic would sear through his neck along the needles until his consciousness would fade:
"It's not scary. It doesn't hurt."
"Behave."
Soon, there was silence. No more yelling. No movement. A crisp chill led the air.
Suddenly, there was a prick against the boy's shoulder and quickly his vision faded to nothing. The young boy, an elf of innocence and insanity, as he lay breathing against corpses. His heart a turned corpse, the same.
~~~
Author's Note: I turned down the offer from Wattpad because the contract did not align with my goals or best reader's experience. But because I promised you all that I will return soon, I will keep my promise. Hopefully towards the end of this month or early next month, we'll be back!
In the meantime, this was an excerpt I wrote for Book 1, but decided to save it for book 2 where we talk about this ~mysterious~ character more. The book itself won't be dark, but there will be dark moments as we talk about the past. Angst fest.
I'm so excited to show you all the rest of the story :)
Take Care.
(P.S. I have a webtoon called, "The Day We Promised". It's a finalist for Canvas Awards 2022 in case you're curious about it and see if it's worth voting for during the voting period starting Dec 5th!)
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The Demon and the Elf (Book 1)
Fantasy[mlm] The lonely Elf had waited many years to meet his bonded mate, but reality was harsher than he would have liked when he finds out his mate is not only a Demon, but the Demon wants nothing to do with him. [Part 1/Book 1 complete. Follow the stor...
