“Stay on his heels!”

“He must not get away or you’re all getting three months in the dark!!”

These words were like adrenaline shots as he redoubled his efforts. Right behind him, the footsteps that stayed right on his heels also got faster.

“Kid, you running away will only make your father suffer more pain”.

Refusing the urge to think, he scrunched up his face and ran faster. Unknowingly, he had tears streaming down his face. The thought of his father suffering the punishment the Viceroy would pass down was like a knife stabbing at his heart but he kept running.

“Go, I’ll hold them back”

Recalling the smile on the face of the man he called father and the order that he gave, he had no words. He had turned around and ran. He couldn’t stay even if he wanted to.

Suddenly he ground to a halt as he turned around and let out a bitter smile. 

‘Even though father held them back, it wasn’t enough’, he thought to himself.

The footsteps that were not too far behind arrived in a few moments.

“Stay alert, he might still be dangerous”, the man who stood in front of the group ordered his comrades. It was the man who had spoken of the punishments earlier. 

This was the Captain of the Watchers. He was a ruthless man who would do anything to get the job done and now he wore a sinister smile as he looked at the boy.

“It's the end of the road now, what other tricks do you want to try?”, he taunted. 

Looking at the Watchers who had come to hunt him, he help but raise his head to look at the sky.

With a heavy voice, his eyes glazed over as he looked at the sky that dyed a deep grey, a phenomenon caused by the influence of the boundaries, he said, “Nothing must happen to my father. If I survive this, you all will suffer for what you took from me”.

In the hopeless setting that was him standing in between two problematic choices; capture by the team of Watchers and The Devil’s Summit; he began mumbling some incoherent words.

“You can still threaten us? Do you really believe you will sur...”

The words got caught in his throat as he saw the boy taking steps backward at increasing speeds before he suddenly turned and jumped into the dark abyss that stood behind him.

The team of Watchers found it incomprehensible that someone would dare such a thing. The Devil’s Summit was said to be a place of death that transcended reality. Entering into it was equivalent to dying in every sense of the word as the soul of whoever died there would be destroyed.

The Captain of the Watchers had an ugly expression as he continued to stare at the entrance of The Devil’s Summit.

The fact that the boy had chosen to die in The Devil’s Summit was not the problem. The fact that he had to return to Nethilor without the boy was the part he found painful to think of. 

Threatening his men with the punishment; ‘spending time in the dark’ was something he loved to do but now he would have to suffer through that as well. The thought of this made him shiver.

“Return to the city”, with a dark gaze and a heavy voice, he ordered his men.

The Devil’s Summit –

The Devil’s Summit was not a summit as far as one could visually see. It was easier to call it the word ‘deep’, no matter how you choose to describe it.

A 50km wide opening leading into the abyss with an unknown depth. It looked and felt completely ordinary even if you stood right on the edge but falling into it was the end.

In this abyss, a body continued to fall. With no impression of the depths, the body looked to be weightless.

It was a boy with dark grey hair, almost completely black. His face could easily be called handsome but at the moment, it had tears smeared all over it and this handsome looked incredibly pitiful. He was unconscious as he fell but his hands were clenched into fists that were tightly clenched, making his knuckles turn white.

This was Aiden... Aiden Tarrenblaze, the boy who had jumped into the abyss after he was cornered by The Watchers.

The depths of the abyss did not seem to be any closer but besides Aiden who was freefalling in an unconscious state, light particles started to appear.

In the darkness of the abyss, the light particles that flowed around Aiden like a small stream began to converge onto a spot, building a figure of light with an aura that felt as vast as the world.

The figure that exuded light had female features but her face could not be seen.

A sigh came from her and echoed through the abyss. The sound carried with it an ancient feeling like one was listening to the very beginning.

The woman made of light touched Aiden’s forehead before she dissipated into the light particles that soon vanished. In the darkness that soon rolled back in, Aiden remained suspended in the air but now he was no longer in freefall. 

Around him, there was some sort of barrier that kept the darkness at bay. As for Aiden, his features began to change like his skin was being peeled off. His hair grew longer, turning from its dark grey color to a pure, snow-white color. 

His body which had shed a lot of fair skin showed much fairer skin underneath while his face also changed, turning even more handsome, like a perfectly sculpted model.

He was already quite handsome before the transformations began but now he could only be described as the one and only Prince Charming.

When the transformation ended, a blinding beam of light shone down on Aiden and when the light faded away, he was no longer there.

Close to the Boundaries, Nethilor City –

In a dark, gloomy dungeon; the sound of key unlocking something rang out, echoing through the entire place.

Three people stood in front of a particular cell as if waiting for something after its doors were unlocked. Two of them had swords strapped to their waists while the last person had a sword strapped to his back.

There was a faint rustling like someone was trying to stand up, followed quickly by heavy footsteps that soon revealed a man who stood at a height of 6 feet and 5 inches with a muscular build that simply screamed every synonym for powerful.

This was General Tarrenblaze, Aiden’s father who had been locked up in the dungeons after he assisted his son in escaping arrest.

He had fiery red hair that cascaded down onto his shoulders. His face exuded an aura of authority and a toughness similar to tempered iron.

He had cuffs on both his hands and legs.

The two who had their swords strapped to their waists walked towards General Tarrenblaze, flanking him on both sides as they walked towards the dungeon’s exit with the one who carried his sword on his back walking behind the three.

The four maintained an eerie silence that seemed to infect wherever they passed through. Their destination was The Viceroy’s Court.

Huge double doors that were crafted from some sort of glistening metal and an exquisite inlay of gold, this was the entrance into The Viceroy’s Court. Two guards stood on either side of the doors and they could easily be described as ‘giant’. They made General Tarrenblaze’s height seem like that of a growing boy.

“Your Excellency, Fraser Tarren, father of the fiend is here per your orders".

There was a deafening silence right after the man with the sword on his back announced their arrival.

The silence stretched on for a few moments before it was broken by a deep voice.

"Enter"

The two giants immediately got to work, hauling the huge golden doors. Saying they did so effortlessly would be too much of an exaggeration but the doors were pushed open in no time. 

Only one person went through the door, the other three stood outside waiting for a response.

Fraser Tarren walked in with a stoic expression on his face as the doors closed behind him.

He walked down the aisle with steady steps that echoed through the hall. If not for the chains on the cuffs put on his feet that rattled with every step he took, it seemed like he was just taking a stroll.

The hall had tall chairs on a platform raised off the ground on both sides of the aisle while at the end of the hall stood a throne exquisitely crafted with gold like the huge double doors: The Viceroy's Throne.

There were 14 chairs on raised platforms before another 7 chairs that were on higher platforms, signifying a higher level on both sides of the aisle. All of them had someone seating on them except for one of the chairs in the group of 7 that was closest to the Viceroy's throne.

The aisle was neither too long nor was it short, so a few moments was all it took for Fraser Tarren to walk up to the throne.

On the throne, the Viceroy was seated and Fraser Tarren made a light bow in greeting. 

"Your Excellency".

There was no answer to this greeting but Fraser Tarren retained his bow. He did not move an inch nor did his expression change before a small sigh was heard a few moments later.

"Will you take your place on the council?"

These words were unlike what was expected. It made the hall fall into another moment of deafening silence.

At some point, Fraser Tarren had raised his head. He had a solemn look on his face as he answered with a hoarse voice.

"Okay".

Somewhere, on a rocky road, a four-wheeled carriage was parked on the side of the road with a few horses surrounding the carriage. 

Two men stood there looking at something. Both men had armor on their bodies and they were soldiers.

They were examining what seemed to be an unconscious person who lay there on the side of the road when the carriage door opened.

Almost immediately, the men who sat on the horses dismounted and bowed in greeting towards the carriage.

"Your Highness", they all chorused.

He answered perfunctorily before he sauntered over to where the unconscious person was lying.

He looked at the person who lay there and he couldn't help but pause. The unconscious person had impeccable looks that made him feel inferior but he soon calmed himself. There was a difference, he had an entourage that was dedicated to protecting him while the guy was lying unconscious in the middle of nowhere.

He turned around intending to return to the carriage but he stopped after a few steps. Taking another glance at the unconscious person, "Bring him along".

This unconscious person was Aiden who ended up unconscious in an unfamiliar place.

Whatever that beam of light was supposed to do, it had inevitably dumped him on a roadside.

The carriage continued on its way after everyone was done with the interlude that was Aiden, the pretty boy.

In the vast expanse of space, Aiden's eyes opened to find himself floating toward something. 

Looking at what he was floating toward, his head began to throb but he could not tear his eyes away from the sight in front of him. 

In the distance, there was a bright light that shone with a colorful glow on the periphery and a bright blinding white glow at the center.

'What is causing this bright glow', he thought to himself as he squinted to reduce the glare of the light.

Suddenly, he noticed that the glow had dimmed down... No, the glow no longer affected him and as if he had phased over a great distance. He was standing right in front of the light.

He was stunned by what he saw. He saw different colored little glows flying out from what looked to be a female figure curled around a grey-colored orb that had different colors swirling around it.