[ALANOR]
Alanor stood in the crowd, his tiny body covered by the mountains of bodies that were apparently cheering. The lycans were violent in their shouts as they listened to their King and cheered on like it was Christmas again.
He didn't want to listen to the King anymore, so he stood there, helplessly watching them do the unthinkable to his parents.
He watched them call his parents names as if some of these people hadn't ever shown up to their door to ask for food. It was funny how the lycans were quick to forget who was there for them and who wasn't.
If Alanor had been older, then he could have understood the blockages in Udrad, the one place where choice never meant anything. He watched his parents watch him, silently pleading with him to go, but even if he wanted to leave, where was Alanor supposed to go? Who was he supposed to turn to now?
Everyone was out here determined to turn his parents into human steak. They didn't care about their innocence. All that mattered to them was that their almighty King Eddy had deemed his parents and thieves.
No amount of pleading would free them anyway. So Alanor stood in the crowd, being pushed by people who wanted to pick up the stones, even though they already had more in their hands than they could hold, but hey, Udrad justice system, yeah?
The children in the crowd looked at him. Some in pity while some looked at him in disgust, because he was the son of thieves. His family had been deemed disgraceful and they knew that Alanor would be stoned the next Saturday.
Maybe if he ran away, then he would be okay, but where? He was just a ten-year-old boy, who knew nothing of life alone or even away from Udrad, however, Alanor was intelligent, and he knew that nothing would ever be the same for him in Udrad.
He had to think, but he would do that after he saw his parents.
Thirty horrifying and heartbreaking minutes later, his parents were dead and the crowd had disappeared. As the tradition demanded, the bodies would remain on the crosses for the rest of the day, before they were fed to the dogs. So Alanor stayed with his parents.
He sat himself on the stone next to them, watching helplessly as the crows came to feed on his parents. He couldn't even send the birds away, because what use would that be anyway. He was just ten and wasn't even strong enough.
With everyone gone, the young boy finally shed the first tear, because no one was watching. If he had been seen crying over the 'thieves,' he would be punished severely by King Eddison. So the kid looked around first, before crying his heart out.
He did it so silently, not to cause any attention.
He didn't want anyone watching him mourn.
Somehow Alanor fell asleep. He was mentally and physically tired and had no reason to stay here and hold on. What would be the point anyways? In his sleep, he had beautiful dreams, those that made him feel like he had his family again.
His subconscious was trying to get him away from the horror that had happened that day. He was hurting so bad, but Alanor was determined to feel it all. He wouldn't run away from the pain. He would make sure he remembered it all, as that would be his fuel.
So he lay still, in his dreams, enjoying everything even though at some point he knew he would have to wake up and face the people of Udrad. He knew there was more to this and he knew that his only chance of survival was away from Udrad.
It was heartbreaking to know that even though Alanor was just a child, he had to grow up, and fast. He had to find his way and ensure that he continued his parent's legacy. Alanor was his family's only hope.
When the young Wynter woke up, he was met with emptiness. Literally.
There was no trace of the trial ever taking place or even the cruelty that Udrad had subjected his family to. Unsure of whether this was just his mind playing games again, young Alanor carefully got up and studied the place.
He could see the feet marks. They were too fresh, too huge, and too many for it all to be just a false reality. Where the podium was, he could see the things his parents had been accused of stealing. carefully, he held them up, only to realize they were banana leaves, that had been illusioned.
Alanor was angry.
His parents had died over banana leaves, things so inconsequential that had made him an oprhan. The king had made everyone think that his parents had actually committed the crime. He had been so invested in all of this and for what?
The whole trial had been a conspiracy but the politicians of Udrad. And that made Alanor question everything he knew about the damned kingdom. He felt like there was more to this than they were letting on.
It hurt that his parents had been shown cruelty in the worst scales.
The people of Udrad had taken everything away from him. As he walked a little farther, Alanor found the lycan skins, that looked battered and bruised. He didn't need to go to school to know that these skins belonged to the older couple.
It was then that Alanor knew what had never been taught to him. The things that his parents had never once told him out loud. This was a lesson he was slowly learning on his own and boy did it hurt so bad.
Udrad had never been home.
Udrad was a prison, and a sick game that only the smart ones won, but also a game that the survivors were never really survivors. They would always be prisoners.
Udrad was an illusion.
And Udrad had betrayed him and his family.
Alanor would never forget.
Still looking around, Alanor realized his parents were already pulled down. There wasn't even a single proof of the atrocities that had happened here. He was pissed, more than he thought was ever possible.
Snapping back to reality, Alanor knew he had to find his parents. He had to make sure their bodies were not fed to the dogs. it was a long call, especially since that was always the norm, but today, he wished the norms could be bent, otherwise, he would come back someday.
If they didn't end him first, he would come back and remind Udrad of who he was, the mere son of thieves, the boy without a reality, the boy who lost more than he should have, and the boy who had everything taken away from him with an illusion.
And Alanor would put an end to all the Udrad animals.