" It hurts! " The mother shouted through clenched teeth.

  The petite frame and mop of blond hair stomped over to David with long strides. One of her fingers dug into his chest. She opened her mouth, and David saw the clenched teeth grinding under strain.

  " If she dies, " The girl said, spit flying from her mouth as it landed on David's chest. " I will burn you to ash until nothing remains of you, not a single mote of dust. I promise this to the song. "

  Upon her words, a weight settled over the four people in the tiny room—physical pressure manifested without fanfare. One moment, everything appeared normal; the next, it was there, born of promise. The pressure assaulted David, his knees buckling under the strain.

  Anger. Deep. With a quick shake of his head, David uncoiled his muscles. On some level, he put himself in their shoes. If a random person came in and did something to a cherished family member, he would have already beaten someone.

  " Vanessa, help, please. My body is cold, too cold." The mother said between sobs, black blood leaking from her at every syllable.

  People from outside rushed in—guards. Some wore pieces of armor mismatched to their forms, while others wore padded tunics. But every last one of them held a knife or a short sword in their hands, pointed towards David.

  Irritation. Began. David's hands turned to claws. He calmed himself with a sigh. His eyes turned towards the mother. She trashed around. David felt it then, the doubt. Had he done something wrong? Somehow had he made it worse?

  The girl held her hand, tears spilling out of her eyes. The son paced, shooting worried glances at the pair.

  At the sight David deflated. He never wished to cause them harm. Especially so the child. David could only imagine what the kid was going through right now.

  The mother curled into a ball, arms wrapped around her stomach. She jerked from left to right in quick bursts. The girl sang a song of her own. A divine hymn flowed from her mouth in a quick burst.

  David began to think, tapping his chin. He considered options. The most likely cause appeared to be some repercussion of the wounds. His magic wasn't all-powerful. It could mend the body it was cast upon, but outside forces: the body had to fight off itself.

  " Vanessa, " Tom asked, hope seeping into his voice, through chittering teeth. " She'll be okay, right? "

  Hesitation colored David's mind. Would she? While David had done everything he could, he was not certain. Magicks were still new, and he had learned little.

  Tom stepped closer to the girl, and his hands reached out. With quivering fingers, the boy pinched her clothes, trying to find a lifeline in this moment of terror.

  Initially, the girl's face, contorted into a scowl, softened. She let go of the mother. Her mouth opened, and with an angelic tune, the mother's body relaxed as she fell asleep.

  " She'll be just fine, bud. " Her eyes darted about unfocused, but she hugged Tom tightly. With his head barely above her shoulders, the sobbing sounds muffled.

  Both girl and boy sought support from the connection. The mother's health spiraled downwards as black liquid seeped from her resting eyes. A tone rang out, caring and soft, and the boy's body fell against Vanessa's body, who was asleep. Not wanting him to see the sight.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  " Guards bring this cretin to the jail. " Her nose turned high, looking down on David, she leveled him with a stare.

  Originally, the guards, weapons drawn, advanced towards him. But something made them pause—an eerie something that threatened to envelop them and drag them under. Teeth clicked together as if icy cold winds blew through the small room.

  Pride. Challenged. " Did these little worms really believe they could threaten him, " David thought. His hands grabbed at the hilt of his sword.

  " Let's kill them. " The insidious voice whispered to him. " Feast upon their flesh and suck out the marrow of their bones. Empower us through them. "

  David felt it then. His control slipped, and his hands morphed into claws. He dug nails into his arm, trying to shock himself.

  Inside his head, a battle was fought. A black mass, unlike fog, tore into the small figure that represented himself.

  " Good, very good. Here I am, helping your people, and you want to do what now? " David's tone changed. Violent. Uncaring.

  He appeared unmoving, but the space around him shrunk. David took up more, his chest puffed out, his head held high. No one dared move. The volume of him increased.

  " A good help you are. What did you do to her? Poison her? Plung a vial down her throat? Or slice into her with a poisoned dagger? " Vanessa shouted, shrugging off the earlier topor with her pride. Her own hands reaching for something within her sleeves.

  Slowly, David turned. Gaze. Leveled. Pupils. Slit. It appeared as if he was looking at a bug, which was disturbing to look at, not yet annoying enough to squash beneath his boot.

  A click of her heel sounded, and she took a step back. Ghastly pale, turned red and hot, just to deflate, evidence of her struggle on her face. David's eyes had made her shrink back in fear. She did not enjoy being seen this way, but David, David enjoyed it as a pleasent cold shiver ran down his spine.

  Sweet feelings entered his body through chemicals released from glands. David felt good. He enjoyed this.

  Seeing them shake and squirm.

  Cold, sweat dripping off the lessers around.

  It was sweet.

  Oh, so sweet.

  Within the scoop of his mind, David was torn to shreds. Pieces of his ethereal form leaked silvery white light, while the dark thing, unlike fog, spilled emerald green flame.

  Part of the green flame acted with a mind of its own, entering him, filling in the gaps. Meanwhile, the silvery white light streamed towards the fog, making it whole. They intermingled, becoming one.

  " Make way. " David commanded. Knowing. They would part.

  They did just that: ten men and a woman. Feathers, crowning their hair in some way, stepped aside.

  Knowing the difference.

  Power disparity.

  Might.

  Danger.

  Fear.

  There was a predator about. Uncaring. Proud. But deadly all the same, and he would go through them one way or the other.

  With his echoing boots against the tile, David walked out. Relaxed. Unburdened. No doubts filled his mind.

  He was whole.

  The gym wasn't big, so everyone must have heard the conversation held within the room. All eyes landed on David as he stepped out of drawn curtains.

  As he cast his gaze about, young and old, sick or healthy, all withered under it. Some flinched, others hid underneath their blankets. David had become terror incarnate.

  Without weapon drawn.

  No threats issued.

  Power. Might. David felt it all. He began to grow under these feelings, emboldened by them. Without caring for the folks surrounding him, he kicked up cloth-like beds and shoved bodies out of his way with a glance, all to reach the exit.

  The dark, unlike fog, cackled. It had stopped being suffused by the white and silver light, sending torrents of green flame at David. His mystical avatar appeared to crack. Ruinious lines etched themselves along his body, all glowing with hot green flame.

  Sweet.

  Cozy.

  A smile hung on his face. Delight. Glee. Pleasant shiver ran through him once more. He felt the terror he left behind, the fear of the unknown that was him, forever etched upon the simple folk. The peasants at his back. Bugs underneath his presence.

  The dark, unlike fog, cheered in joy. It had stopped being suffused by the white and silver light, sending torrents of green flame at David. David's form, flailing about as if swatting flies, appeared to crack. Ruinious lines etched along his body, all glowing with hot green flame.

  As he reached the wide, open, smudged doors, something fell out of his pockets—a simple square wrapped in white linen, tied preciously at the top. David's gaze swept over it uncaringly, seeing it as nothing but dirt.

  His inner mind turned from the black ink of the abyss to the white and silver of a serene lake. David's representation turned calm. Movement. Ceased. Motion. Ended. Never there. As if forgotten beat.

  " No, NO, " The black unlike fog screeched.

  But David's aura swelled—bigger, more. His calm presence filled the lands that were his own- pushing, pressing in on the black-unlike fog.

  " It's mine, supposed to be mine. "

  The black, unlike fog, half-formed of white and silver, now shrunk back. It retreated deeper and deeper into the depths of David's body. Metal-like clicking erupted as chains of white and blue locked themselves around the demonic thing.

  " Noooo. " The dark-unlike fog howled. " Don't cast me away. You need me! "

  A bundle of thick chains, metal-like but ghostly all the same, sunk into the floor of David's mind. Ripples appeared on the floor as if the surface of a lake had been disturbed.

  " You will need me again, " The insidious voice cackled, a whiff of last defiance. " But then the price will be more. "

  David, once more in control of his body, didn't pause. He strode out the doors, arriving at the runes woven into a dome-like shape.

  A single devastating tone sounded out of his mouth. The barrier. Shattered. He stepped through.

  Tempo. Did it hit the tension it meant to create?