Thorn of Darkness

A teenage boy strides into the bar, drenched in blood from head to toe. He took off his gray cloak's hood. Half of his face was covered in blood and his mouth and nose were covered by a silver iron mask. For a split second people in the bar looked at him with respect and fear in their eyes but then they went back to whatever they were doing. The boy, Abban was his name, walked towards the left wall of the bar.

And scanned the whole chart that was hanging on the wall; there were photos of different people on the chart and down in the corner was written the bounty amount along with 'Wanted dead'. Abban took off a photo from the chart, and looked at it for a minute, before putting it in his cloak's inner pocket. "I was about to take that one. Give it back." Keen said with a rude and arrogant voice. He was the son of Rubas and Rubas worked directly under the town's Hellborn Association. Abban stood there for a second and then turned back and started walking towards the exit door. Keen tried to put his hand on Abban's collar so that he could stop him, but the second he extended his hand towards Abban's cloak, Abban turned around and took out Keen's sword which was hanging to his right hip, and sliced Keen's right hand with one strike. Keen fell on the ground, screaming in pain and punching the ground in anger "Try to stop me again and you'll lose your life." Abban cleans Keen's sword on his back and then throws the sword away. No one seemed to care about it they continued playing cards and drinking alcohol. It was normal in the Djinn Domain. Killing wasn't considered a crime unless you kill a Prodigy or A Djinn. Humans were just a source of food for Djinns. Abban walks out of the bar. It was night; Abban walked on the street filled with mud and trash, human blood flowing in drains their organs up for sale in different stalls. Weird creatures roam around eating alive humans, a guy passed Abban, he was chewing on a human arm, D-Grade Djinns don't bother cooking them nor do they care what part they are eating while other Djinns prefer specific organs or parts of the body. Abban was a Hellborn he killed people who went against the Djinn Empire. It was the only way for a human to live; making themselves useful increased their chances of survival. Abban didn't choose to be a Hellborn he became a Hellborn because his dad his grandfather and his forefathers, all were Hellborns.

Abban hid himself behind the wall as soon as he laid eyes on his target; Ivar, his target, was a low-ranking officer in The Soliden Army. Abban started tailing him. Ivar was wearing a simple and tattered brown shirt. Even though it was cold and foggy night he was wearing nothing but a simple shirt. He looked back three to four times to see if someone was tailing but catching a Hellborn while he is tailing you, is nearly impossible, you won't feel or see them until they choose otherwise. Ivar stopped in front of a house and knocked on the door. It wasn't a normal knock it was in a pattern. A teenage girl opened the door, and her eyes lit up the second she laid eyes on him, she rushed and hugged him tightly, "Dad--" she cried, "What took you so long?" The man looked around the dark alley once again, "We should talk inside. Anny, let's go." Anny takes a step back and cleans her tears of joy. "Okay." Abban rushed towards the door after they closed it. He looked around and found a tree near the house, he jumped and kicked the tree to throw himself in the other direction and then kicked the wall to throw him further up the tree. When he could see the roof clearly, he jumped from the tree to the roof. The door of the staircase was locked with a metal chain. Abban took out a knife and sliced through the chain, the slice was so perfect that even the chain didn't know it was cut until Abban busted it open. He sneaked into the house throw the stairs. Down the stairs, Ivar was sitting around a dining table, along with his daughter Anny, a little boy probably his son, and a woman who seemed to be his wife. "Anny, how is your training going?" The man asks, "You are taking lessons, right?" Anny takes a bite from her bread, "No, I tried but I got hurt three times so Mom canceled the lessons." Ivar stared at Anny's mom, "Jerri,--" Jerri looked at him, "What? We can't let our girl get hurt, look at her face." Anny had black hair but was short, she was slim and her face was pretty much bruised and covered in dust. She was no more than 4'11. Ivar placed his bread down, "You forgot the first rule of Djinn Domain? 'If you are human and can't contribute anything to the Djinn association, you are food.' They like soft humans; we need to make our body strong and hard so they don't eat us for pleasure, she can't join Soliden's army like that." He knew that Djinn would eat you even if you have the hardest skin but, they wouldn't enjoy it so they might throw them away after a bite. "Like they won't kill us, you have joined the Soliden army and to kill people like you they send Hellborns. Do you think you can fight a Hellborn? They can kill us whenever they want. So, this training our bodies to be hard things won't work, once they know about us, we are as good as dead."

She didn't even know how right she was, a Hellborn was sitting on their stairs, lurking in shadows, waiting for a perfect time to kill Ivar. "Dad, will we ever see peace just by killing them one by one? They are less in number but, one D-grade Djinn is enough for trained 10 humans and a D-grade prodigy is enough to end a hundred well-trained humans, do we even stand a chance." Ivar was a healthy-looking guy, abs showing from his torn-up shirt. Ivar courses his hand through his dark and gloomy hair, "Anny, we don't kill for Djinn association like those filthy Hellborns, we find and murder those who don't deserve to live, we are exceeding in number and one day we will start a war against Djinn Domain. And send those Djinns and Prodigy users back where they came from." Abban descended from stairs slowly, "How do you plan on doing that?" He asked. They all startled after hearing Abban's voice, the look in their eyes was of despair and fear. "I don't like repeating myself." Ivar stood up, "Are you a Hellborn?" He slowly picked up a knife, "Are you here to kill me?" He turned back and threw the knife towards Abban; Abban slapped the knife away. "I asked a question and if I like your answer I might let you live." Ivar knew this would happen one day, Soldiers are trained to be calm in situations like this. "I am sorry but, I won't rat my comrades out--" He said with a breaking voice. Abban stared at Anny, who was still sitting in her seat head down and tears dripped from her eyes, same as her mother. The little boy was sleeping in his mother's arms. Abban slowly walked towards her, gripped her wrist, and pulled her up, "You are soft, and I can sell her to some restaurant." Anny crying but, not making a sound or struggling to run, she knew Hellborns were just too strong for her to deal with. "Okay, I will tell you everything please let her go." Ivar shouted Abban let go of her wrist, and she fell to the ground. "You said; you will send Djinns and Prodigy users back to where they came from, what does that mean? Are you saying there was a time when humans lived on this planet alone?" Abban sat on the chair next to Ivar "Stop crying and sit properly on the chair," Abban said to Anny with a cold and heavy voice, "You too." Ivar sat down on the chair, Anny still crying but slowly stood up and sat down on a chair, "Yes, there was a time when humans were the strongest species and ruled the world." Abban took his gloves off and then he took his mask off. Both hands hand scarred and he was missing a finger from his left hand. Ivar's eyes filled with not just fear but dread, he started shaking with fear, "You are Abban--" He stuttered, "No way, you are the youngest Hellborn and still have most kills to your name, in the Soliden army people die of heart attack if they even so much hear about you." Abban had made a reputation even among the Soliden army, Hellborns, and even Djinns for his cruelty and ruthless torturing ways. "Please don't kill us I will tell you everything." Cracking a Soliden was difficult but, Abban's name was enough to give them all the information about the Soliden army. "There was a time when humans lived alone on this planet, Djinns and Prodigy users came from other worlds and started spreading chaos." Abban shifted his gaze towards Ivar, Ivar nearly pissed his pants and the smell of blood coming from Abban's clothes indicated that he had just returned from another assignment "Do you know a man named Djinn Lord?" Ivar stuttered, "Yes, everyone knows him. He rules over the Djinn Domain. Hellborns, human meat import and export, and everything that takes place in the Djinn Domain are under him." Abban placed his elbows on the table, "I want to kill him. And I am here because I need you to do something for me." Ivar's jaw drops for multiple reasons; The Great Abban asking for his help and a Hellborn asking a Soliden to help him kill the ruler of the Djinn Domain. Somehow he mustered the courage, "You work for him so, why do you want to kill him?" He frowned, "And you need my help?" Abban's face tightened, "I don't need your help, and I want the Soliden army to get me inside the Blood Wall." More confusion filled the room, "You want Soliden Army to start a war so, you can kill Djinn Lord?" Ivar eyes Abban with no fear but curiosity in his eyes. "I mean if we had that kind of manpower why would we hide?" Abban eyed Anny, "Arrange a meeting with your leader or someone who has better authority, I give you a month." Ivar got curious and stunned by Abban's answer. Ivar got paralyzed with questions. Why would he give me a whole month? He must be insane to think that I won't run. Why does he want to kill Djinn Lord, I am ready to give him all the information about the Soliden Army. What is he plotting, why he didn't answer my question?

Abban stood up, "And so you don't betray me," he grabbed Anny by her short boylike hair; she started crying again and lifted her from the chair making her stand on her feet. "I'll be taking her with me, if you deny or propose anything I'll kill her right now and take your wife and son. You betray me and I'll sell her to Djinns. She is soft, peeling her skin would be easy and I could earn a lot of money by selling her alive as well." Ivar didn't utter a word; he was clever enough to not make Abban mad. But giving her daughter to a demon like him was difficult as well, "Deal, you won't hurt my daughter and I'll do my best to arrange that meeting." Abban grabbed her from the waist; she was so small that he picked her up like a doll in his right arm. Ivar's eyes were shouting to her daughter Stay strong. Don't cry. Never cry. He still wanted to beg Abban to let his daughter go, but mercy or kindness doesn't exist in this world, you bow to power and prey on the weak, that's the rule of the Djinn Domain. "I'll arrange that meeting, and he will let you go. Anny, --" He cried. Abban puts his gloves and mask on and while getting his hood on, Ivar's wife puts her head down on the table and starts crying out loud. Abban disappeared in the fog, along with Abban Anny disappeared in the fog shouting to his father to help her.