He choked on a scream as a hand was suddenly around his throat. In front of him an elf now stood, skin the changing colors of smoldering ash. The creature’s eyes burnt like the molten rock, and the heat of his grip singed Jace’s flesh. The creature had sprung into existence in moments, as if waiting for him attempt to run. It smirked at him, sensing the youth’s fear. The most treacherous race of the damned, Sinders were the stuff of nightmare.

“Dred.” The man said, holding the rusted dagger up to the dim candle light; letting the blood bead and drip onto the scuffed floorboards. “Bring our comrade here. He must finish his rite of passage.”

Jace scratched at the Sinder’s hand, feet no longer on the floor, he was struggling to breath and the smell of his own burning flesh gagged him. The skin on his hands seared as he pulled chunks of ash off the Sinder’s arm only to watch it crumble and fill the space back in. He kicked, but all that his boot met was soft ash. He felt the hand tighten, the burning becoming more intense as he struggled.

He was tossed like a child’s doll onto a small bedside table, the old wood splintering under his weight, before he slumped down on the other side of the body he had tried so desperately to escape the sight of. Even as the world dimmed from the pain, he could not ignore the scene in front of him.

Mathew’s brown eyes were open wide; his lips parted slightly, blood maring his otherwise flawless features. A handsome youth, with wit and charm to spare, he had never had a problem with the ladies. He had always been smiling, always joking and telling tales. He was the more approachable of the pair, but not always the more notable. Together they had never left a tavern without becoming infamous for the yarns they spun. Jace froze again, stomach twisting into knots, unable to stop looking at his best friend’s lifeless body.

“Come Jace,” The man’s voice was commanding, and he raised his head to meet those lifeless eyes. “Stand.”

And then his conscious mind once more took a back seat to his actions. He shakily rose to his feet. The man reached out his hand, and Jace mimicked him. The world was a sickening blur, and he couldn’t cope with it, he could only retreat again.