PROLOGUE

Errot ran. He ran and ran and ran until he had no air inside of him left to breathe. This wasn't the first time he had been in this situation but he longed for it to be the last. Every year growing up in Merlot Blood was just another reason for him to get away from this dimension. 'Being a Merlot is hard ' was what his father always kept telling him . ' But you're a survivor. Never look back. Never trust anyone but your own self. And you'll manage to live another day'. His fathers words were what kept him alive all those years and what would still keep his heartbeat from reaching zero the years that follow. So, Errot did just that. He didn't look back. He used all the strength he had left to force his lungs to start working again and did what he always thought it was impossible and utterly insane. He crossed the borders.

♛

CHAPTER 1

Errot definitely wasn't prepared for what he had to face after crossing the borders. As a kid he always dreamt of the 'outside' world as this very fascinating and beautiful place you read in the books.

Beautiful. More like, Beautiful-ly rotten. Errot thought. He looked around him and all he saw was destruction. Empty and ruined roads. That awful smell. Something must have died here. The trees and flowers, everything was dead. Nothing moved. Nothing could be heard. The only thing alive right now was his heart. He could hear it pounding against his chest so loudly, Errot thought it might explode any second now. Where was he? What was he supposed to do now? He never actually thought about this.

All those years, the only thing on his mind was the word ' Escape' . Nothing else mattered to him . He had everything planned. But thats just how far his mind took him. His escape. His escape from this god-awful dimension where the mortal lives aren't worth a single dime. Merlots either live on the streets or in shacks. You are lucky enough if you live on a shack. That means that you are immediately considered rich but at the same time you become a target for every single mortal that you cross paths with. Being targeted means that your every move is watched and your every step is followed. You can't take a walk without your hand gripping a knife so tight that your knuckles turn white. Living in a shack is both a gift and a curse. Thats just how Errot sees it anyway.

He was fortunate enough to grow up in a shack. To have a blanket to cover himself up in winter when  the sun light wasn't enough to warm anyone up. When the cold the night sky brought could freeze an entire kingdom dead. Merlots simply live to exist and survive, endure and fight. Always sleeping with one eye open in case someone tries to stab them in the back. They are toys for immortals to use and money making machines for other mortals in order to survive. A Merlot gets killed and everyone celebrates because it means power, money and food for a little while. Everyone praises the murderers. As if they are some kind of Kings. They wouldn't know any better. Nobody would in their place. In a world where a dead body means you get to feed your children, everybody would get blood on their hands. So, Merlots aren't completely worthless after all. At least their death is celebrated. Their body doesn't just rot. They finally become useful to society. Is it wrong for a human life to count only after the soul leaves its body and not when the said human is alive? Very. Errot hates this life. But its all he knows. Its how he was raised. He got used to it. Was it a mistake to abandon the world he grew up in?

Perhaps, it was too late for him to go back. Was it also too late for him to keep going? Errot was about to take a few mindless steps forward when a very familiar voice startled him and stopped him dead to his tracks

"Leaving without me? " Errot snapped his head at the voice so fast he almost had a concussion.

" Oda...I thought- "

" Yes, we all think. Now stop wasting our time and let's see how can we survive this mess"

A tiny faded smile creeped up into Errots face. The thought of his childhood best friend joining him on his possibly last trip was fascinating yet very, very dangerous.

" Crossing the borders, check. Having a backpack with the most necessary things with you so you won't die..." Oda glanced at Errot with a poker face. Errot placed his hands to his pockets and looked down in slight shame. Oda always knew how to intimidate him .

She sighed . " Disappointed but not surprised. Luckily for you, I'm the smart one in this awful friendship. Here. " She passed one of her bags to an impressed Errot.

"Okay backpacks, check. Now, I suppose you didn't think of what you would do if you actually managed to cross the borders. Am i right or am I right? "

Errot opened his mouth, ready to defend himself but closed it right after. No words managed to come out of it. What could he defend exactly? He didn't think this through. Actually, he didn't think anything through. His lust to run away blinded his head completely.

"Huh. Love it when I leave you speechless" She winked. " I got this taken care of too. You know, you should really start paying me. What would you do without me?"

Errot rolled his eyes. He didn't want to admit it but it kind of wounded his pride. At the same time, Oda was awfully right. Really. What would he do without her? Probably lying in a pool of his own blood by now, having Merlots sell his organs for money or ..worse. He shivered at the thought and shook his head. "What have you got, smartass? "

Oda smirked and pulled a map out of her backpack . She pointed to a certain place.

"So we're right here. And we want to go...." She pointed at another place on the map.

".. there. "

"Moccasins? "

" Yup. Moccasins. They are gonna give us information and maaaybe fae ears? " Oda said amused.

" What are you talking about ? Hey, first of all, miss genius, Moccasins don't just give out information or anything else like that "

" We are gonna make ourselves useful. Give something in return. I also highly doubt that the rumours are true. They are angels. They can't be that bad . "

" Oda. Look at us. What could we possibly give to - "

Errot almost managed to finish his sentence when he heard a very loud noise coming from behind him. He didn't have to turn around to know that the loud noise was actually a gunshot.

Run.

He thought he screamed but wasn't quite sure. Maybe it was his mind playing tricks with him. Errot felt like he was stuck in those kind of nightmares when you really have the urge to run but your legs are glued deep into the ground.

He couldn't quite put his finger in how long he was frozen at this very same spot . A few seconds? Minutes? Maybe hours? What had happened? Why wasn't he moving? Why was everything so damn blurry? Too many questions clouded Errot's mind. Was he dead? He couldn't be....

..

Could he?

♛