He found it surprising that he
remembered warmth.
Jaxon remembered being warm in
bed listening to his father move around their small family dwelling. The sounds
of his brothers light snoring had put him to sleep that night as it did every
night.
He was ripped from bed into the
cold winter air, their dwelling was never cold their father kept the fire
burning all night but it was cold. How long had he been asleep? What was
happening? His sleep hazed mind couldn't understand why he was being torn from
the warmth of his comfortable bed.
Dragged through the house with
his two brothers, he could hear his mother's screams and pleas for mercy for
them. What had they done? Fear had frozen his mind, heart and soul when the men
from the village had dragged him past the headless body of his father in the
doorway.
Snow crunched under foot as he
and his brothers were moved out into the winter night. After the sight of his
father he felt strangely detached everything just seemed to roll past him with
a vague blurry surreal feel. He looked up at the sky when he fell and they
continued to drag him like an animal through the snow. It was one of those
nights that was so clear and crisp that the stars hung
heavy in their black velvet shroud but the moon was missing.
A scream pierced the night air
from the dwelling, his little sister. He heard Kaden struggling to get loose to
get back to his mother and sister, a second scream of pain and fear split the
silent night. The comforting wall of detachment fell away from him like the
crumbling walls of their former home. He stumbled to his feet confused and
scared but he knew he had to help.
His mind whispered to him that
he was only 12 leave this to Kaden he was the oldest it was his job to protect
them when father was gone. He felt guilty and fought harder to free himself, he could hear his younger brother Tynan crying he
was only 8. He tried to grab his younger brother and pain lanced through his
face as he was hit. Dazed he fell to the ground and found a brief oblivion from
the cold, fear and pain as unconsciousness took him.
He didn't know how long they
existed in a world that only consisted of hatred, pain and cold. The cold that
numbed his body was welcome it took the pain until they did something new. It
was the cold that ate at his soul that scared him he could feel its icy fingers
clawing at him till he believed he would never feel warm again.
Day and night were the same to
him they passed in nothing but deeper shades of red. He was blind his eyes had
offended the men of the village so they had sewn his eyelids shut to rid
themselves of his inhuman stare.
He wished they had taken his
hearing as well, nothing could block out Tynan's cries of pain or fearful
sobbing. It was Kaden's eerie silence that screamed louder than any of the
noise around him, he knew Kaden still lived but not for long.
Kaden had tried to keep the
village men distracted to keep them from hurting him and Tynan worse. It had
worked until he had heard Kaden's screams suddenly silenced in a wet gurgle. It
had fallen to him to protect Tynan as well as he could, blind and in pain he
had taken the mantle from Kaden's shoulders and become the protector.
He was nearly done, his body
wracked with pain hung as limply as Kaden's, he didn't even have the strength
to scream any more. Now they had turned their hatred on Tynan.
The cold had taken his pain
again he could feel his life draining away with the blood that pulsed from him
with every beat of his heart. That was when he heard the sound of tearing skin
and Tynan's pain filled screams stop.
Please,
they can't have killed him already.
He heard the sounds of
scrambling and confused shouts nearly masking the blessed sound of Tynan's
sobbing. There had been more shuffling and surprised screeches cut short.
Suddenly there was a rustle of feathers and he had felt enclosed, his brother’s
bodies touching his in the close confines.
The ropes hanging them from the
tree were severed the only thing that allowed them to stay upright was the
pressure of whatever was wrapped around them. The most magical, lyrical voice
he had ever heard spoke softly to them.
“Rest easy, small ones, you are
safe now.”
He couldn't help but believe the
soft motherly voice then the warmth had come again. The first time he had felt
anything but pain in so long, with the warmth had come a sensation a pain worse
than anything he had felt as his flesh thawed. She had lied,
she was only there to make them suffer more.
The pain brought the sweet
oblivion of the dark abyss, he gladly embraced it to sink into its depths and
be free of pain.
Was he
dead? Could you wake up dead?
There was no pain only a
pleasant numbness and warmth, it radiated around him, through him like a living
thing. This brief moment of warmth was a most treasured memory but it too had
been shattered all too quick. His belief that he was still safe in his bed
ripped from him like his family had been.
He heard the sound of whispered
voices and tried to open his eyes, there was a moment of panic when his eyelids
wouldn't move and a bolt of pain that was quickly swallowed by the numbness. He
wasn't dead, he could feel the dry blood that caked his eyes and feel the fresh
warm blood that tracked from the corners of his eyes like tears.
Unable to move or see he
listened, Jaxon could hear soft muttering that sounded like Tynan but he couldn't
make out the words. He heard footsteps and other voices came into range.
“...too late to save the rest of
the family, what happened to their mother and sister they can never know. They
have suffered enough, we must give them the gift of thinking their family died
quick and painlessly.”
The footsteps stopped close to
him and the woman fell silent, the voice was the same one that had found them.
Who
was with her? Were they going to start hurting them again?
“Goddess, I think you should let
this one go, he won't thank you for saving him.”
The voice was deep and gravelly
like his father's, Jaxon's numb mind grabbed hold of that voice like a
lifeline. The connection to his mother and father that had always been so vivid
and alive in his mind was dark and cold but that voice was here and real.
“Do not call me that, Shade,
someone who could let this happen to children does not
deserve the title.”
He heard the rustle of a gown as
the woman moved then she spoke again almost too soft for him to hear.
“It may be better to let him go,
there is so much damage that cannot be repaired but...”
Jaxon tried to move but he
couldn't, he tried to speak but all that came out was a low strangled croak. He
heard the rustle then a gentle hand soothed over his hair. She couldn't let
Kaden die, he screamed in his mind hoping she would hear.
Please
save him!
“Shh small one, you must rest,
be at ease you are all healing. Now sleep and when you awaken all will be
well.”
He felt himself slipping into
the warm darkness again, the last thing he heard the man's voice.
“You didn't have to lie nothing
is going to be right again for them.”
Jaxon jerked awake his eyes
darted from side to side, it took a few moments before he realized he wasn't
still back there. Every night he suffered through reliving the worst moments of
his life, it was no wonder he didn't sleep much.
Running his hand over his head
he sat up and stared out the open door to the balcony of his room. He had to
find out what had happened to his mother and sister, maybe that would stop his
endless nightmare.
The cold mountain wind blew
through the door touching the skin of his naked body. He never let warmth
anywhere near him anymore, hope, love they were lies told to children so they
thought life was good. When he had woken up that night over 500 years ago he
had embraced the cold that had clawed at him and wrapped it around his heart
and soul like a shield to defend him against the warmth.
