Prologue
"Lucian, don't go," His weak mother called, coughing lightly.
He frowned, staring at his mother's fragile body on the rusty bed, and sighed, "mom," he dragged, "I'm a man already. I need to bring food on the table," he said, staring ahead at the wall.
"Don't go," His mother said persistently, "I have a bad feeling about this."
"There's no bad feeling about it," he growled, "You just don't want me to…". Lucian felt anger surge through his veins as he clenched his fists. He was now an adult and felt responsible for his family after his father had run off with a younger female. His mother had always been the only one to put food on the table. Now she was weak, and her health was deteriorating.
"No, dear…" their argument was cut off when a little girl with pixie hair bobbed in.
"Brother," she squealed excitedly, jumping on Lucian, who caught her immediately. He twirled her around, which made her giggle before he ran his hand through her hair playfully.
"How is my favourite girl?" He chuckled lightly, caressing her cheeks adoringly.
"I'm fine, brother lucy," she grinned cheekily.
"That's my girl," he mumbled softly, putting her down as she ran off to the backyard.
He turned his gaze to his mother, walking to her as he sat beside the mat where she lay, "Mom," he dropped his voice low, "Let me take care of you," He whispered before pecking her forehead and going out.
He closed the door, strolling his way through the thick forest. It was only he and his family that lived in the woods, his mom was cast away after her husband left because the people thought of her to be a lousy wife, and as a punishment, she and her children should stay on the outskirts of the village. His mother, the most likeable and kind person he knew, didn't argue with or deny the accusations.
Fuck! and that always made him mad.
Only his footsteps, the heavy rustle of leaves, could be heard as he hummed an unknown tone he had heard at the marketplace the previous day. He kicked little pebbles on his way.
He saw a demarcation garden, and he grinned slyly, looking left and right as he jumped in swiftly. Luck was always on his side. If he could pluck twenty of the ripened berries, it would long for him as his family till tomorrow.
Lucian rolled the sleeves of his tattered shirt as he climbed on the tree gingerly. He found a sturdy branch and sat on it as he picked the ripened ones.
The sound of the dogs barking alerted Lucian of the owner coming as he scrambled off the branch but lost his footing and fell with a loud thud. He bit his lips hard, trying not to scream from the pain. He groaned painfully, feeling his left leg broken as he saw the farmer's dogs running towards him. He ran at speed he never knew he possessed, jumping out of the garden with his one-half legs.
His heart was pounding erratically as he feared for his life. He ran ziggy zaggy to mix his scent with forest to confuse the door. When he noticed he had lost the trail of the madden dogs, he limped home.
By the time he got home, his house had caught fire. Everything was burning. Considering the raging fire, he ran inside to save his mom and sister, but the smoke was too much. He ran out to inhale cleaner air; he breathed in loudly, coughing vigorously as his eyes glistened with tears.
Lucian screamed for anyone to help, but he wasn't heard. He sobbed loudly, kneeling outside as the place he had grown to know as home, his family crumbled.
Anguished and blind by rage, Lucian took the axe he placed outside on the lawn before stalking his father's mistress' home. Without notifying them, he went inside and butchered the woman, his father, and their son.
Lucian turned to leave the crime scene, but the door was immediately shut as the temperature became sensed and the air was whooshing loudly. The room felt colder than before. He threw the blooded axe away, his body pricked in fear of the unknown.
He closed his eyes when a brightened light shone at his front as he fell on his knees, trembling tremendously.
"Ye son of Iris," a voice- an angry feminine voice said. "You've killed the innocents! You've killed my family, and you shall be punished," the voice laughed maniacally.
"You shall become a king to people for your resentment, you shall become a monster for your grudge, you shall never know the taste of mate and be lonely," her voice made his heart constrict as he touched his chest in pain. He couldn't voice out anything.
"You shall become the worst and dark part of you, and you shall never be able to feel human again because you've given up your humanity."
"No." he shook his head, but a lump blocked his throat. Only black blood came out of his mouth.
"I - Opharis, the moon goddess, placed a curse on you." That was what he heard last before he fell into darkness.