Chapter One

“Reeeeeyin! Run!”

Riyin woke up with a start, just as the burning, wooden roof came crashing down, inches from where his head had just been. Alarmed, he jumped out of his straw bed which had already started to catch on fire, and looked around in a daze.

What in the world was happening? A scream erupted from somewhere and Riyin felt his blood curdle up with fear. His mother never screamed.

“Ma? Ma!” He jumped to his feet and ran to the door. All around him was fire and thick smoke that stung his eyes. “Ma!”

He pushed the door open but it wouldn’t budge. Another part of the roof came crashing down, sending sparks of embers flying. Riyin slammed his body against the door with as much force as his ten-year-old body could muster but the door remained unmoved. He was trapped inside a burning room. Something wasn’t right!

“Riyin! Run!” Her screams were coming from behind the door and he felt a new chill of ice it was way up his spine until it grabbed ahold of his brain.

Riyin’s eyes flashed a bright red and he could feel his entire body begin to burn up. He took one step back, breathed out hot air from his nostrils, then took two giant leaps before crashing against the door.

Riyin burst out amidst flying splinters and smoke. His eyes had adjusted to the black smoke and he could see now, ears perched up to listen. Just as his eyes scanned their tiny cottage, he heard the sound of a struggle, it seemed to be coming from his father’s study and Riyin raced towards it.

His father was a learned wizard, he spent most of his days and nights in his study, reading mystical literature and learning new magic. Riyin had found himself sneaking into the study more than a dozen times, only to be kicked out. Soon, his father had cast a repelling spell to keep him out of his study.

Now, Riyin pounded his fists against the door, trying to set his mother free. From what? He could smell the magic in the air, and it wasn’t his father’s. This one was more malignant, darker, and it tasted like gall against his lips. Another creature of magic had his parents behind the door, he could feel their presence.

“Ma!” he screamed, his voice breaking. He had never felt so paralyzed with anger as he did just then and for once in his life, he wondered what his life would be like without his parents.

The door creaked open, just as he heard his mother whimper, “No.”

Riyin barged into the room and there, caught in mid-air, was his mother. The study lights were on and they flickered as if breathing in and out. Purple smoke held her in a place like a rope and there was a figure amidst it all.

“I told you to run,” his mother said in a defeated voice as she wept over her only child. If only he had listened-run, the witch wouldn’t have seen him.

“Let her go!” Riyin yelled at the dark creature cloaked in black smoke. His father was slumped on a chair, unconscious.

The purple smoke inched its way up, like a snake, from the dark witch to his mother, creeping upward like a stray vine, sliding against her chest, sneaking behind her, and reappearing against her throat. It coiled up and his mother began to choke.

Riyin charged towards the witch but ran right through the smoke and reappeared by the other side of the room. His mother was making choking noises and when he looked up in horror, her face had lost its color.

“Ma!”

Riyin ran through the dark witch again, once more, it was like grasping the air. He decided to climb atop the reading table. Maybe if he could reach his mother, he could free her from the witch’s hold.

A loud cackle erupted from the dark form that was the witch and seemed to grow louder and louder, engulfing the entire room in mirthless laughter. Riyin reached for his mother but as soon as his hand touched hers, they slipped out of his grip as his mother began to float higher and higher.

“Mama!” he cried out again but there was nothing he could do. His mother’s feet kicked and fought in protest and Riyin watched helplessly as the air left his mother’s pale lips and her body finally stopped moving.

“No, no, no, no,” Riyin kept on muttering the words like an enchantment. As if, if he said them, they would extract him from this bad dream and wake him up safe and sound, snuggled up in his bed.

His mother’s head suddenly jerked to the side and he heard the sound of her neck snap before the purple smoke uncurled from around her, letting her body drop to the ground.

Riyin jumped down from the table and made his way to his mother but a force snatched him up from his feet and hurled him against the wall, past where his father sat slumped on a chair.

“Your turn,” the witch said. Her voice sounded like a strained, wailing sound. She sounded like two people speaking at the same time.

The fire outside had already spread to the study and Riyin could feel the heat increase. He was no longer against the wall; the witch had used her purple smoke to lift him mid-air. 

“Such a pretty boy, it’s a shame.”

Riyin was crying now, his head felt like it was about to explode as images of his mother’s dying moments flooded through his mind. Now he was going to die too.

“Why are you doing this?” he yelled, “Why are you hurting me?”

The cackle returned and a gust of hot wind blasted against his face. Riyin gasped for air and he saw the study’s roof cave in.

“Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth,” the witch screeched with laughter and another blast of hot air engulfed him, ruffling his silver hair. “Look who has to pay…” he could see the dark figure of the witch inside the smoke, and as he looked harder, he caught a glimpse of crimson. Her hair. “…for the sins of his father.”

Riyin didn’t understand anything she was saying, all he could feel was fear and the thought that this was going to be the last day he was going to live. He should have said he loved his mother often. He should have been a good son to his father, instead of complaining about cleaning the stables. He should have been a better son.

“Oh, is the little dragon sad? Don’t worry, your tears will bring my daughter back to me.” She laughed and Riyin felt himself go higher.

This was it; his final moments. At least, he was about to go meet his parents again. Riyin shut his eyes and willed the horrific images of his mother out of his mind. He would now think of only good things, the good times they had. 

They didn’t lie when they said that your life would flash before your eyes, moments before you go to the white light, and so poor Riyin remembered it all and smiled.

Something knocked him out of his trance and he realized that he was crashing down. The witch was shrieking now, and her attention was no longer on Riyin’s.

“Papa!”

His father was speaking another language in quick succession and symbols appeared in the air, glistening orange. The witch charged towards him but the runes emitted waves that knocked her back.

Riyin ran to his father. “Papa, you’re alive!” relief flooded his entire body; he had never been so happy to see his father as he was just then.

“You’re not safe here, and I cannot hold her off any longer. You will be safe.”

What was his father talking about? Of course, he would be safe, beside him.

“What are you…”

“Remember, you are a dragon heart. Yisuf will take good care of you.”

Riyin didn’t understand. Who was Yisuf? The witch had also called him a dragon but he had no idea what she had been babbling about and now, his father was using the word too.

“I love you, son.”

The witch was bashing herself against the runes and one of the symbols fell to the ground and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

His father shut his eyes and started to chant. A bright light formed from one of the bookshelves and it widened. The witch screeched, “He is mine!”

“Go!” his father ordered in a stern voice. The light had formed a portal.

“Papa?”

“This is not the time to be a baby, Riyin, now go!”

Riyin took a step back away from his father’s harsh tone, scared and confused.

“Go, Riyin!”

Riyin gave his father one last look before he turned around and stepped into the brightness. The last thing he heard was the witch’s angry scream before everything exploded in white lights and he stepped into utter darkness.

                                                                                        …

An owl hooted in the darkness and Riyin felt grass beneath him. The red moons were full and there were no sounds. Even the breeze that kissed his cheeks made no rustling noise against the grass. Riyin stood up and looked around. All around him were magnificently tall trees and he couldn’t make out what type of trees they were.

Something shifted in the grass and Riyin jumped, the hair at the back of his neck stood on ends. His father had just pushed him through a portal into an unknown place. Who knew what new danger lurked in the trees? What if the witch found him? The sudden need to find cover hastened his heartbeat and his head began to swim as he turned around in circles, frantically searching for a sign of direction.

All around him were the silent trees and no footpath whatsoever. The owl hooted again and Riyin started to run. He dodged large roots that silently twisted and turned in place, digging into the soil, and swerved through giant trunks. As he ran faster, he felt like he was being watched. One moment, he saw a flash go by beside him and he shouted with startled fear, pumping his feet to go faster. All he needed was to get out of this creepy forest.

He had run for quite some time when a clearing appeared in front of him. Riyin, renewed by the new sight, made for the patch of clear grass ahead of him. He was so relieved that he didn’t hear the soft whooshing sound of a rope beating the air as it swirled round and round, faster with each succession.

Riyin was about to burst out through the forest when a noose caught his left heel and tightened. Riyin fell to the ground with a scream. He remained there for a few seconds, trying to regain himself when the rope tightened and pulled him backward. 

Riyin howled and tried to get a hold of something, anything, but the blades of grass which he held on to as he was unceremoniously dragged back into the woods slipped out of his grip. Riyin screamed with horror as the clearing before him grew smaller and smaller and he was swallowed up by the forest.