Chapter One

"That man is not truly brave

   who is afraid either to seem or to be,

   when it suits him, a coward."

   -Edgar Allen Poe

This was the moment he'd been waiting for. A chance to explore, a chance to get out there and have fun, and not to be stuck in a dinky, old house like the previous years. Once his pale hand had touched against the door to push it open, a rush of cold air permeated the room. His eyes closed so they wouldn't sting, along with how he quickly zipped up his coat as well.

Before he could even stride himself out of the doorway, his mother had handed him a medical kit, a heavy jacket due to it being winter in Canada, and some fresh bread with some goat cheese that was in a small plastic container.

"Remember, Ace, don't you dare think about leaving the village, okay? You are only to go to the market and work, then come right back," His mother warned. Her weathered hands passing through her frazzled hair in a sudden bout of anxiety.

Don't do this, don't do that, let me get out there already, he grumbled.

It's all that Ace's mother ever told him these days. He was twelve years old, which was usually an age for scolding, but he had gotten disciplined so often that even he thought that he was now basically a dead pan faced kid who had no experience of having fun. His feelings were mostly monotone because speaking with emotion was usually a sin in his house. The world had utterly changed around one hundred years ago, as the history books he learned from at school said.

The Golden Age for humans had long been dead once the apocalypse, leaving about two billion humans left on Earth. It occurred due to an unknown force that  the townspeople called:  Magic. The country had returned to Anarchy, and the King persecuted anything involved with this new founding of sorcery. Even though Ace wasn't well-educated on the subject, he knew that King banned magic for a darned good reason. The citizens had to leave the ruined cities of the past, due to the buildings beginning to decay and collapse, tearing down as much as they could to make new land.

"I'll be fine, Ma." He sighed, giving her a small smile for reassurance. In all honesty, he was scared to go to the market. A lot of heavy-weighted men worked there, and then there would be him in his grey parka jacket with a backpack, standing at a small height of five feet. Ace turned on his heel so he could face towards the chalky, thick snow that had piled up on the steps and landscape before them.

"Be careful!" She called as he began walking towards the pathway. He just held his hand up and waved his knuckles at her, a symbol of confidence in their family that he'd be all right.

Ace shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket, feeling a strong shiver cross over his spine from the sudden gust of wind that blew in his face. His cheeks and nose were now stained red, his raven colored hair wispier as well. Their house was near the outskirts of town; one of the more dangerous places to be, but also one of the safest due to no one being around to steal from them.

Curiously, he peeked over towards the woods that acted as hollowed stones that would make music with the air coursing through it. He had always been curious about them ever since they moved in. They were positioned right outside his bedroom window, leaving him clueless yet wondering at what was beyond there.

His house was out of sight now, the snow and fog blinding his field of vision a couple of meters behind him. It had been about ten minutes since he started walking, and he still hadn't reached the village. There were other houses he passed, but they seemed as abandoned as all the other huge buildings were beyond the city limits.

“Aye, kid!” A voice sounded out of nowhere, closely in Ace’s ear as well, causing him to jump. He quickly looked behind him, then above just in case they weren’t hiding in the trees.

“No, ya big loon, down ‘ere!”

The boy’s gaze quickly shot downwards in panic, his gaze landing upon a very short man with nothing but a toque on his head and some clumpy looking jeans. Even though it looked oddly funny for a dwarf person to be shirtless while in that kind of style, Ace couldn't let out a laugh.

“Where’s your coat?” Was all he said. The dwarf’s frown got even bigger, his finger pointing to under Ace’s foot.

“Yer steppin’ on it, ya loon.” Ace quickly lifted his leg to look below him, a bit baffled to see that there was a dark grey sweater under his feet. He could have sworn it wasn't there previously.

“Where did you come from? I didn’t see or hear anyone walk up!” Ace exclaimed, picking the vest up to hand it to the man. “And who are you?”

“Felix!” He answered, quickly putting on the snow covered sweater. “The rest ya don’ need to know.”

Only his name? This man is mad! Ace’s eyebrows raised, a bit of frustration on his face.

“I’m sorry I stepped on your jacket.” Was all he replied with. Ace then began to walk towards his destination once more. His mother was already going to kill him for talking to a stranger. 

Unfortunately, he heard footsteps behind him.

“Aye, aren’t ya bein’ a lil rude?” Felix shuffled up beside Ace, looking as if he were about to fall. “I was gon’ thank ya!”

Ace tried to avoid looking down at him, his lips pursed. Felix’s friendly smile quickly dissolved, and he stopped walking. What is that dwarf excited about anyway? He was mad a few seconds before. Feeling a bit of guilt, Ace stopped and looked over his shoulder at him.

“What’s your deal? You were tellin’ me in an mean tone earlier about how I stepped on your jacket, and then you wanted to thank me?” The expression on the poor boy’s face was one of confusion. Felix tugged at the hem of his sweater, like a child would if they were a bit nervous.

“Well yer the first person ta see me in a long, long time.”

“Do you hide out as an outcast or something?” Ace interrogated.

“Naw, yer wrong. I ain’t hidin’ from nobody, they just can’t see me.” Felix made a rolling gesture with his hands, as if waiting for Ace to get that he was invisible to the naked eye of humans.

“Now look who's loony!” The boy gave a one syllable laugh, turning back around. “I have to go to town and work for Ma, I can’t be talking to some strange man!”

“I ain’t a stranger! Hell to ya, I just introduced myself, ya goon.” Felix put his hands on his hips. “If ya can see me, ya ‘ought to be able ta see others, ya know? Ya need me if yer gonna run into more creatures like me!”

“How am I even able to see ‘creatures’ like you?” Ace huffed in frustration, asking himself more, rather than Felix.

“Did ya come across some magic?” Felix asked.

“Magic?” It peaked his interest. Ace looked at his newly found acquaintance with an odd expression; more confused than anything. The fact that he even looked at Felix just then was a mistake; because he didn’t see a small man anymore. He saw someone with horns in his head, like something a goat would have, and he didn’t have pants on, it looked like fur.

Where did his legs go?!

There, Felix held the image of something that Ace had only learned about in his free time at the library. There was a book on greek and roman myths, both having this kind of creature in the script written. Though Ace knew it familiarly as a satyr.

“Wha- what the heck?!” Ace gasped, jumping away from Felix with a small ‘Eek!’.  For goodness sake,  why was he seeing something that only people who have come in touch with wizards and warlocks would see? His mother was human, everyone he knew was human.


“What’re ya surprised for?” The goofy satyr looked down at himself, then back up to Ace with a sassy expression on his face. “Ya didn’t realize my hoofs before, eh?”


“N-not exactly, I just.. “ Ace took in a breath. He could be hung for just conversing with someone like him. His palms felt sweaty, despite it being freezing outside. “I shouldn’t be.. talking to you, I’ll get in trouble.” He nodded to himself as if he said the right thing. He quickly resumed his trip towards the town. It was only a few yards away, clear as day in front of him. Did others think he was crazy? Talking to himself like this; if they couldn’t see Felix and all.

Crap.

The townswoman that walked near the entrance looked toward him, giving him a look. If she reported Ace, then he'd be burned at the stake on the spot. The King believed any kind of magic was dark, or scary.  If a person was losing their mind, talking to others who weren't even there, then they'd die. There was no such thing as a mental disorder anymore.

Ace shot a bitter glare at Felix, as harsh as it was, and then went on his way into the town. That's how he was taught; his Ma wasn't a fool when it came to talking with strangers. Felix would no doubt leave him alone now.

"I'm gonna leave, so don't follow me!" He called out behind him.

"Ay! Yer havin' some weird mood swings; I'm tellin' ya that ya have a gift!" Felix tried to convince him, though Ace wasn't going to give in.

"I haven't been touched by.. by magic or anything.." he mumbled, refusing to believe it, "I'm normal. Go away!"

Felix remained silent after that, though you could hear him huffing stubbornly.

I knew it.

Once quickly stepping onto the village's ground, Ace paced through it, searching for the blacksmith that he'd be working for. His brother, Camden, had worked there for a while, until he disappeared around four years ago, when Ace had only been eight years old. Some say he was taken by the local mafia around the town. The mafia were rebellious against the King, though his majesty didn't do much about it. The citizens were his power, and there were thousands of them.

Ace didn't think his brother was that weak, though. Like his father, Camden had a really tall height and strong build. There was much more to the story than just him being taken.

Even if he knew it was impossible to think that his brother was caught up in such a thing, much like himself, he was beginning to wonder if it was sorcery.



Author's Note

Ignore grammar problems, please!