Years began to pass during my time at the orphanage.
When I turned 8 months old, I had perfectly learned how to walk, continuing my practice as I hastened my steps each day in learning how to run.
By 1 year of age, I was spotted by May while trying to reach for a book on the top shelf using a nearby chair, desperately wanting to know the secrets contained within.
While the library was filled with different books, this book was special as told by the other children.
It was a book about magic!
But that didn't end very well, as the more I stood on my tippy toes, the less control I had which resulted in me trembling over as other books fell around me.
May could only facepalm In the mess I had created.
Feeling a sharp pain in my right hand's palm, I lifted it to see a horizontal cut had appeared from my fall. The cut had only lasted for a few seconds as the wound started to heal, the pain subsiding along with it.
May walked over as she helped me off the floor, taking me to the kitchen to wipe the rest of the blood off my hand.
With the blood gone, May turned me to face her as she put her hands on both my shoulders, looking into my eyes. But before she was able to get a word out, I quickly cut in saying, "I'm sorry for the mess, I was just eager to learn about magic," as I looked to the side, my eyes facing the ground.
"It's okay Dyreus, but you should take a step back for a second. While you are learning quite fast, that book is highly advanced and takes years of studying to even understand it. Magic will come with time, but let's first get you to master your reading and writing skills, okay?" She said smiling.
I could only nod in reply.
"Now, how about you get Aurora and we make some cookies?"
With an even bigger nod and putting on a smile, I quickly ran off to find her.
May was left in deep thought as Dyreus took off, "The boy has pretty much already mastered our language, it seems like we have two geniuses on our hands."
As the night began to dawn, the kids started to head to bed, while May sat in her rocking chair on the back porch, watching Dyreus and Aurora read in the grass.
"Aurora, why don't you head to bed, I need to talk to Dyreus for a bit."
"Okay!" Aurora responded, as she stood up and looked down at Dyreus, "Let's finish that book tomorrow!"
"Sounds good." He replied as Aurora headed off to bed.
Dyreus marked the page and closed the book. He got up and ran to May, seeing what she wanted to talk about.
"Dyreus, while what I say may seem insignificant, I need you to listen carefully; never fully trust that healing of yours."
As if a Dyreus was finally waiting for this day, he quickly asked, "Why exactly do I heal so quickly? I've seen you cut yourself before and it takes you at least a week to heal. Is something wrong with me?" Dyreus asked with a nervous face.
"Nothing is wrong with you dear. While I'm not sure either, Let's just say your body is quite special. Elysium is full of mystery and wonder, and I think you might be one of them." May said smiling.
"I just need you to know, that while that healing is quite amazing, you need to always protect yourself from getting hurt, okay? The best warriors aren't the ones who leave the battle in blood, but those who were never touched!"
Dyreus entered a deep thought. He didn't care much for what happened to him as he always healed within seconds. This was one of the few reasons he ran wildly around, and also the reason he learned to run so quickly.
But after being told by May, he understood her point.
"So I should leave it like a last defense?"
"That is all that I could ask for dear."
Dyreus nodded at what she was saying.
"I'll do my best to protect myself," Dyreus responded. "Good night May!"
As Dyreus ran to bed, she could only hope he held those words tightly.
Time began to move again.
Dyreus was lying in his bed, closing his eyes as he drifted to sleep.
He had just recently turned six and the other kids one by one had turned the age of 15, as they left the orphanage for the nearby academy and other various trade works, leaving only him and Aurora.
As he quietly slept, he was slowly awoken by a soft sound.
"Dyreus... pssst, Dyreus, wake up."
"Mhm?" Slowly opening his eyes, Dyreus could see Aurora kneeling on the ground next to his bed
"Aurora? It's the middle of the night, go back to bed," Dyreus responded as he shuffled his sheets and rolled to his side.
"Dyreus, wake up! Tonights the night!"
With a small grunt, Dyreus rolled back over to face Aurora and asked, "The night for what?"
"When I was strolling through town a week ago with May, I heard talk about a special pond that completely reflects the moon's surface! It only appears during a full moon and that's tonight, so we have to go now!" Aurora said exhilarating.
Dyreus sat up in his bed, "Aurora, the forest is filled with magical beasts, and May would kill us if she found out we snuck out."
"Don't worry, she won't find out. And besides, the guards keep the magical beasts back. May just tells us that so we don't wonder about it. The pond is just on the outskirts, so we won't even see a magical beast."
Dyreus pondered the idea, wishing he could go back to sleep, only to see Aurora looking at him with big puffy eyes, begging for him to go with her.
Dyreus could only give up on his sleep as he looked at Aurora, "Fine, but we need to be quick about it, May really will kill us if she finds out."
Aurora nodded in response, they both quietly got up and snuck out of the orphanage, praying the crackling wood wouldn't wake up May.
Dyreus followed Aurora as she led him towards the town walls, a small hole could be seen, just large enough for them to fit through. As they both slipped through the small gap, they quickly set off for the forest.
Upon arriving first, Aurora stopped to take a breather, looking at the forest glimmer under the stars. Dyreus arrived right after, noticing Aurora tired from the run.
"Plan to take a long break?"
"Do you not get tired? I don't even see a single sweat and we just ran all the way from town"
"You know I ran a lot as a kid."
Aurora rolled her eyes.
"Let's go," she responded.
As they both headed into the forest, Dyreus asked how far in the pond was.
"It should just be a couple minutes walk."
As they continued to walk for about 15 minutes, they stumbled upon a completely different scenery.
A large pond brimmed with radiance as the moon reflected upon its surface. The surrounding trees encased it, bringing the pond's focus to the eye. Crickets could be heard as they bounced on the surface.
"It's beautiful," Aurora said as her eyes glazed at the surface of the water. She quickly ran forward and touched the water's surface with her hand as if she were touching the moon itself.
Dyreus stood back as he watched Aurora touch the water. He saw the trees swaying from the wind but noticed something almost indifferent to the sway. It seemed as though each time the trees swayed to where Aurora was kneeling, the trees were trying to bow to her before quickly reverting back.
Shrugging off the idea, he asked her, "Does this place have a name?"
"It does. They call it, 'The Moonlight Pond'."
Dyreus nodded as it truly stood by its name. Walking forward he sat down next to Aurora, as she leaned back as well.
They both looked at the scenery together as they talked about the past and the time they'd spent growing up together so far.
Surprisingly, Dyreus enjoyed the time spent. He would occasionally take glances at Aurora. Her eyes were of deep blue color that matched the water as her dark hair blew with the wind.
It was as if the moon's reflection was able to stop time and bring only peace.
As they spent around an hour talking underneath the moon, they realized it was time to head back before their disappearance was noted.
As they stood up, they heard bushes shuffling from where they came from.
As if the world was bringing balance to the peace they had, a dark horrid creature walked through the bushes. Its shape was that of a mix between wolf and human.
As it exited the bushes on all fours, it smelled the two of them, letting out a low and dark growl sound upon seeing them. It pushed itself off its front feet as it stood in front of them standing on two legs as saliva drooled from its mouth.
Aurora stepped back shaking as her eyes trembled and let out,
"It's a magical beast!"