Ray is low on time, luck, and hope; his only chance is an artifact that may not even exist. But upon meeting Landon, Ray is beginning to believe he might find all four.
*****
Cambion...
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The first blow sent Landon to the ground.
Usually, that would be enough. If you went down quick and didn't get up again, they would get bored and move on. These people were just looking for a victim, someone they could vent their frustrations on without consequences. Sea Children were obvious targets. Who could they tell what had happened? Who would believe them?
Then the second blow came. The air was knocked from Landon's lungs as the foot of a person he'd never even seen before connected with his ribs. Landon still didn't try to get up. Whoever this was, they were just... a bit more upset. Landon could understand that. Things were getting harder every year. This person just needed to inflict a bit more pain to feel better.
Landon pulled his arms over his head and neck, forming a shield of blood and bone as the person continued to kick him. They made mark after mark, turning Landon's dark skin into a bloodied canvas of bruises. Landon clenched his jaw. Perhaps he just didn't get it, but he didn't see any beauty in this modern art form.
After a while, the person got bored of kicking and drawing increasingly softer grunts of pain from Landon's lips. So, they pulled him up by his hair. It hurt but Landon bore the pain, staring at the person who had decided to attack him.
"Coward," the man snarled. Then struck him again.
Ah... so that's what this was about. This man wasn't simply upset because of the increasingly shitty state of the world and taking it out on an orphan... he was upset because Landon was an orphan who didn't care about the increasingly shitty state of the world.
"You know," Landon managed to get out between blows, "this isn't exactly making me want to join Jihn's military."
"Shut up."
The man punctuated his sentence by stomping on Landon's leg. Landon yelped but otherwise kept his mouth closed as the man had requested. Even if this man would not listen when Landon offered him very valuable feedback on his methods of persuasion, Landon would listen to the person hitting him.
But really, this was the third time that one of the military's dogs had hunted him down to teach him a lesson for defying his betters. With every bruise, Landon wanted to join their ranks less and less. If these were the types of people he'd be around every day, he'd much rather be beaten to death right here!
It wasn't even like there had been a draft! It was only strongly suggested that all eligible young people enter the ranks of Jihn's military so that the tiny kingdom would be prepared if it needed to face the Empire of Alyra.
The sheer distance between Alyra and Jihn—along with the looming giant of the Koyiti Empire which stood between them—had shielded Jihn from Alyra's hungry gaze. However, the uneasy peace had finally come to an end.
The two great powers of their world—Alyra and Koyiti—were finally at war.
If Koyiti fell, then Jihn would be next. The people would be subjected to Alyra's harsh laws and high taxes while the empire ravaged their lands—as it had done to so many others—until all that was left was unworked soil and a pile of corpses. Nothing could survive coming in contact with Alyra and its emperor, just as no flower could survive the bite of winter.
