"Zachary! Zach, come here," a man yelled, busy looking at the empty fireplace, and the sun going down. Almost immediately, footsteps could be heard from above going down, where a small child, about 12 years old, appeared out from the doorway. This child brushed off his short, black hair from his eyes, and whipped his red cape away from his arms, and looked towards the man that called him, his father. "Zach, please go out and gather some fruits and wood from the forest, will you?" his father asked. Zach only nodded before heading out, grabbing a nearby basket by the front door. Exiting his small little 2-story cottage, he went off into the forest.
For most, asking a child to go out to get some fruit and wood from a forest that is quickly approaching nighttime would be an idiotic thing to do. However, Zach was more than capable of taking care of himself. Having learned from his parents, Zach was able to use his magic to protect himself and to collect wood easily.
Traveling through the woods, he picked up any fruits he could find. Those hanging from trees, he used magic to pluck. Once satisfied, Zach decided to move on to wood. Heading out a bit deeper, he found the small clearing his family usually uses to chop down trees. Raising his right palm forward, he kept it flat and parallel to the ground. Suddenly, his arm started glowing a bright red, as his hair seems to be blown upwards by wind. This display was typical, as Zach had been surprisingly powerful for his age, being able to knock himself down with his own magic. Pulling his palm towards his chest, he readied himself to strike. And then, in one swift motion, he swiped his hand across the air, causing a powerful force blast to get launched, tearing down a swathe of trees. Using this ability some more, Zach chops the wood into small pieces that could be easily carried, and set off back home.
It took him a while to get back home, although in the end, he wished he had never gotten home at all. Upon being able to find his way home, he found that it was set on fire. and his parents were still inside. Zach wanted to run in to try and help, but there was one thing that stopped him from going in: there were other people there. They were dressed in armor, and held guns and flamethrowers. Zach couldn't get caught by them. He knew that, because he recognized the people. His dad had told him about them. These people were soldiers dedicated to killing those like Zach and his family, which was why they were in hiding. Zach knew that if he was seen, he would die. So, using his magic, he turned himself invisible, and went in closer.
"South side clear," one of the soldiers said, hand touching the side of his helmet. He was patrolling to make sure that nobody would see what was happening.
"Targets neutralized, sir," said another soldier, as he kept using his flamethrower to burn the house down. He personally made sure that their targets would die in the fire. There was something different about the targets, though...
"Sir, still no sign of the child," said one more soldier, standing next to his fellow. "Crazy what we have to do, huh?" he continued, asking his comrade.
"I mean, if you have to kill a pest, you gotta make sure even the spawn are exterminated," replied the other.
"Still, killing a ch-" was all the first soldier could say, before he heard something stumble. With him and his fellow soldier looking at the direction of the noise, they saw a child becoming visible in front of their eyes. Immediately, the soldier said, "All units come to my position! North side of the house! The child has been found, I repeat, the child has been found!"
Crap. Zach had nothing he could do except run. He quickly turned and made a mad dash away from the bad men. He overheard them talking about his family being targets. They knew they were living here. They were hiding for nothing. The thought scared Zach as he ran, since it filled him with the fear that he could never hide, that he would always be hunted. But now wasn't the time. Using one of the spells he learned, Zach drastically increased his running speed, easily outrunning the soldiers.
Once out of sight, Zach re-cast the invisibility spell, and hid himself behind a tree. Peeking around the tree, he saw the soldiers running past him, and briefly caught his breath the moment the soldiers ran past. Once he was sure that he was safe, he removed the invisibility, and curled up, crying. He just lost everything he knew. His home, his family... gone. It was all gone and there was nothing he could do. He stayed there for what felt like hours, before passing out and falling asleep.
When Zach woke up, he found himself dirty, and covered in water and mud. Standing up, he walked over to the remains of his home, to see if there was anything, or anyone, still intact. Unfortunately though, it was all reduced to ashes. Not even searching through the rubble, did he find anything. Everything was gone. Tearing up, Zach decided to leave the area, hoping to never see it again.
Zach traveled far away from his home, and ended up at a city not too far away. Unfamiliar with the dense buildings and large groups of people, Zach quickly ran into one of the alleyways and hid away, afraid that any one of them might kill him. Suddenly, he felt a hand grab him, and in a fit of retaliation, used fire magic to try and burn the person. Instead of the unknown assailant being burned badly, the flames instead danced around him, before turning into a perfect sphere above the stranger's hand.
"As I suspected. You are one of us," said the person, who was hooded and had an old voice. Those words though, "one of us," immediately intrigued Zach, since that meant the man could also use magic. Almost as sudden as his appearance, the man asked, "Are you from around here, young one?" To which, Zach just shook his head. The old man thought for a moment, before having an idea. "I know. Why don't you come live with us? We have everything you need to live," said the man.
The offer lit up Zach's eyes. He was going to be protected by others just like him! Nearly immediately, he nodded vigorously to it, nearly getting dizzy. The old man just chuckled in response, and just gestured for him to follow. He was led... not very far, since they were just facing the end of the alleyway, a brick wall. Chanting a spell, the old man tapped the wall, where it suddenly opened, revealing a tunnel leading below the ground. Zach hesitated for a second, but just gulped and walked down the tunnel with the man, ready to enter a new life in his new home.