Raven

I Scrambled back in through the warehouse skylight. I flipped down onto the floor where a light shone down on Augur. He was on a bed, an EKG monitor next to him. Titan walked around the bed checking some stuff. 

“How is he?” I asked. 

“Alive. Barely.” Titan said walking away.

“What are you doing?” I asked, scrambling toward him. 

“There isn’t anything I can do, child. He was a great asset. It’s a shame to see him die.” 

“N-nnn~No…” I said, my voice distorted.

“You like your owner does not seem to know his place!” Titan approached me. “So stand down like a good little mutt.” 

“Save him.” I said simply, I dashed through the air toward Titan striking my claws forward… He grabbed me by the neck and slammed me to the ground. 

“I will do as I wish. Do you hear boy?” 

“Y-y-yes…” 

“Don’t try to pull another stunt like that again.” Titan walked away.

“I won’t let you die Augur. I swear it…” I dug my fingers into my palms. “Even if it takes more runes… More…” 

B̴̢͕͒̀̐͜e̸̝̺͖̒͠f̵͙̟͚͐̒̕o̴̢̡̼͆̀͝r̴̙̻͍͑͘͘e̴̢̦̠̓͊͑

I was young when it happened… Just ten. I was sitting in my living room with my parents and dog. Watching TV. The walls were cream, the carpet was beige, a red rug in the middle. The TV hung from an arm connecting to the wall, lavender candles flickered and spread their scent through the room. 

I heard something… Something faint, the sound of an engine, the sound of the wind smacking against something. “Dad!! Do you hear that!?” I tugged on my dad’s leg.

“Hear what son?” 

“The sound! It sounds like a-ah-a-a-” My dad looked at me inquisitively. “I’m not sure…” I said finally. 

“I’m sure its nothing to worry about, kid.” 

“Okay dad!” I was on edge, I didn’t know why. Call it a sixth sense, call it intuition. I don’t care, all I know is that some part of me knew what was about to happen.

BOOM! 

I jumped in surprise, but I quickly realised it was the TV. “You okay son?” My dad asked. 

“Y-yeah…” I reached for his hand, I grabbed it, but when I looked there was only an arm, a bloody arm, I was on the ground, chunks of flesh were scattered across the ground, as well as pieces of debris… 

Later

“NO! NO! THATS NOT HOW ITS SUPPOSED TO GO! IT DIDN’T! IT DIDN’T… Happen like that…!” I Clenched my chest, I panted… I could barely breathe. “It’s just-just a dream… A dream…” I reclined my back onto the mattress again… “It’s okay…” 

Brian

I reached for my phone trying to rub the exhaustion out of my eyes, I checked the time. 13:02 I’d slept in, and I still felt tired, groggy. My leg felt… Odd… I flipped my duvet off ready to get out of bed and start my routine, but my left thigh was covered in ice, I gasped in surprise and recoiled. I didn’t even feel it. Blue shards of it jagged off my leg. I reluctantly placed my left foot onto the ground. CRRRK! Some ice was shed, some shards. But the first layer all remained. I stood up, took one step then another. I raised a hand to my mouth… “What… How?” I reached for my left pocket where I left the shard, but my entire left trouser leg was ripped off. I immediately picked up my phone and began typing…

YOU

Meet me now important!!! 

JUSTIN

U ok? Also where??

What’s happening to me?… I thought…

~~~

I saw Justin sitting in the clearing, biting his nails, checking his phone. I grabbed my arms and walked forward out of the bushes. “Hi.” I said croakily. Justin’s eyes immediately went to the ice, the ice that kept spreading, even on the walk to the forest it spread completely down to my ankle, it spread up to my stomach. It was consuming me, and I didn’t know what would happen when it encompassed all of me. 

“Oh my- Brian… What happened? Did you go to the doctors!?” I looked at him, tears streaming down his face. 

“Something tells me this ain’t somethin’ the docs can fix Justin…” 

Justin

“It-It’ll be okay!” I tried to assure him. We were in our spot, among the trees. 

“How will it Justin? How will it be okay? What happens when it spreads further?!” I knew it wasn’t just ice, so did he. And we both knew that doctors wouldn’t have any sort of clue how to treat it. We knew it was a form of magic, or something along those lines. And they wouldn’t have any idea about any of that. Soon it would cover all of him… Then what? 

Years ago

It was the day I met Brian, one of the best days of my life. We were both just ten. I was forced to go to the playground by my mum to socialise. But I would hide at all costs just to do the exact opposite. I sat alone on a bench, biting my fingernails while my mum talked to a couple friends of hers. The playground rested on tarmac that had various flowers painted on it. Colourful slides and swings were bunched around each other.

A kid wearing a white shirt with an ice cube on it that read “stay cool” walked up to me with a large grin on his face. His hair was black and was compiled of bunched together dreadlocks leaving no empty spot on his head. He had blue eyes and was quite tall for his age. He had long black shorts. “HI!” He said giggling.

“Hmph! What do you want? To make fun of me? Well-!” I said assuming he was like everyone else.

“What…” He replied sadly, his grin fading. 

“Uh… Oh… I’m sorry! I thought you were trying to-”

“IT’S OKAY!!!” His smile returned and he tackled me with a hug. “YOU’RE REALLY KIND!!!” 

“Huh…” I said as he smiled and kept hugging me… “If you say so…” That day something strong started. Something I will cherish until the day I die.