Leaving Home

"Come quick." Their mother ushered them to wear the coat right after their mother made sure that their dyed hairs were now dry. Ryzen swiftly followed her while their father stood silently at the corner. Ryzen could tell the resemblance of the attitude he shared with their father.

"You must reach the capital city before the bell of Korendell rings, am I understood?" asked their mother as if they were a kid but the tremble laced upon her voice didn't go unnoticed. 

Ryzen understood what their mother was afraid of. Ryzen and his twin sister, Raya, only had six hours to travel and living on the outskirts of the kingdom paid no help at all. They must climb the steep mountains of Derglib and cross the frozen lake of Raws.

And in their sixteen years of existence, this would be the first time they would leave the premises of the Yolke Swamp, the place for the outcasts near the outer wall. From then on, they should enter the second wall between the lake of Raws and the mountains of Derglib, where a fleet of red blood soldiers was posted to guard. 

"Let's go," Ryzen said before grabbing Raya's arm away from their weeping mother. Ryzen could not afford further delay. Closing the old rotten door, he walked away from their home. Images of childhood memories flashed in his mind causing a searing pain deep within his frozen heart.

"I wasn't able to hug our father," Raya said sadly while keeping her earnest to keep up with her brother's track.

 Silence took place. 

Ryzen didn't answer her whim. They were chasing time, and should they fail to reach the first wall by sunset meant their doom.

'Wait,' Ryzen thought.

An idea popped into his mind. Ryzen stopped dead in his tracks and faced his twin sister, who was looking at him with a knot on her forehead.

 "Is something wrong, Ryzen?"

"Wrong? No. The idea that might help us? Yes."

"What is it?" she asked him intriguingly. Raya watched her brother grin, displaying his shining lilac eyes.

"We change into our beasts to save time," he said.

"But mother said—"

"Mother said that the soldiers must not see us. Then all we have to do is to change back eyesight before them," he cut her off. Without waiting for his response, he changed right before her. 

His once-dyed hair changed color to milk-white thicker hair. His slender body became taller and sturdier with sharp as blade claws. His mouth gave a snarl as his canine showed, and his once lilac orbs turned crimson red. Veins popped everywhere in his face, and his eyes leaked red stains that Ryzen seemed to cry blood. This was his other side, the feral look of the beast hated by many, the cursed Red Bloods. Without looking back at his sister, who was now changing, he dashed to the direction of the mountains of Derglib.

Moments later, another hellhound was running by his side. 

In a blur, they took off—eager to fulfill the task at hand. Howling at one another, they shook the stellars in their path, leaving the poor creatures flying from fear. The cold, harsh wind of winter could not penetrate their warm bodies. The speed of a hellhound was as fast as a vampire's speed. Ryzen swiftly halted when they were about to enter the mountains of Derglib. 

Looking at his sister, he nodded and continued to race towards their destination. Crossing every shortcut, running faster than every second passed. They stopped for the second time when they were greeted by the sight of the wall as tall as the mountains of Derglib. Ryzen immediately changed back, and so was Raya. 

Now back in their coats, they approached the wall as meekly as possible.

They should not show that they were as harmful and savage as red blood nobles told them to be. As vile as it sounds and as Ryzen's inner beast grunted in disapproval, they should show submission. Under the cool blue sun, they sauntered, taking their hoods off their heads and raising both hands.

"Who are you?" A blood soldier yelled from the top of the wall. 

They looked up and answered as their mother told them. "We are the teens from the Yolke Swamp, sir! We come for the annual coming-of-age ceremony!"

"Should we tell them?" Raya whispered to him.

"Clench your teeth together, Raya," he replied. They could not afford to get busted, and he could not afford to break his promise. 

A good dead minute passed until someone answered. "From which race are you?"

"We are the outcasts of wizards. Thrown for being unable to wield an element, sir," Ryzen replied—sticking to their mother's sentences.

 Satisfied with their answer, a slight rattling sound of a wooden lift descended. 

'We passed!'

"Woah, you did it, Ryzen," Raya said, amazed by her twin brother.

"I said clench your teeth together," he warned her, which she obliged immediately. Ryzen could not afford to risk everything because of his sister's innocent demeanor.

They stepped to the old wooden lift which carried them to the peak of the wall. They stood silently under the blue light from the eastern sun; their shadows showed that a good three hours had passed since they left Yolke Swamp, leaving them three hours more to reach the third wall of the capital city.

"A fine lad and lass from that dirty swamp." A red soldier commented when they passed by towards the lift that would send them down. 

'Of course, everyone thinks that a swamp for the outcasts is a place for the hideous people,' Ryzen could only say these words at the back of his mind.

Ryzen knew Raya was barely controlling her beast from snapping at the red soldiers who threw insults at them. He quickly placed his hand on her arm to soothe her and her beast.

'Now is not the time.' 

He told her through his eyes which she understood much to his delight. They strode to the lift, immediately descending as soon as they set foot on it. 

They stood side by side as they waited for their next journey to set forth. Being the elder twin, Ryzen had this fierce sense of protectiveness for Raya, and he vowed upon all the gods to protect her even if it would mean his end.