Beyond?

***Free City States of Nict, Tri***

***Yoran***

It's morning and I haven't slept since yesterday. My wife Valda was abducted during her trip through the city and her guards were killed.

Luckily a random commoner saw what happened and since our clan has a good relationship with the common folk he immediately reported it.

Of course I mobilized the entire family and all our resources to find my pregnant wife. But we were too late. I'll never forgive myself for this.

A user of the dark arts had gotten his hands on her. He cut the child out of her belly and used it as an offering for his mad summoning ceremony.

I wish I could've killed him myself. At least I ordered his corpse being cut apart and displayed at all four main gates to our city.

So why is my wife sitting there with a small boy on her lap? Even if this creature saved her, he can't be our child. She was in her fourth month and that boy has to be at least seven months old.

But his light hair shows my dark colour, while some strands shimmer with the dark blue metallic colour of my wife.

The horns are just tiny knobs yet, but they still mark him as a member of our race.

I cover my face with both hands and start to rub. The events down in that cavern feel so unreal. Where did that rogue magician come from? There were no indications of such a mighty practitioner of the dark arts in my city.

As the governor of Tri I should have known of him. I wouldn't have let my wife go outside with so few guards.

Grandmother Quamar is keeping watch over Valda and the boy too. She would have slit the child's throat right then and there if I hadn't stepped in. She is a little chubby and sitting with a grim expression beside the healer who is examining the boy. She has her staff ready and her grey hair is messed up. One of her beautiful horns broke off during the fight, but otherwise she is well.

Valda's sister Jade is also with us in healer Laney's office. She didn't speak a word since... she was returned from the dead. Jade is just staring at her hands while sitting on a chair in the corner of the room. She doesn't seem to care that her blonde hair is still dirtied with blood.

My close advisor Daylen is leaning at the door to make sure that nobody disturbs us or listens in. He is Jade's future husband. A heavy war axe is on his back and his expression is grim while he watches Jade.

“And I say that we should deal with the spawn of evil while we have the chance.” Quamar grumbles while she's fixating the child with her eyes.

“No! Nobody will harm him even more than what that bastard already did!” Valda pulls the sleepy boy closer to her chest.

Healer Laney drops her wooden stick in frustration. She used it to push the boy's tongue aside. “Normally I have to keep the children from moving! But he is so tired that he wouldn't twitch if you dropped him to the ground. So keep still, Valda!”

Laney belongs to our household and she is a trustworthy person with brown hair and a round face.

“Sorry.” Valda starts to caress the boy's hair while looking at the ground. Laney grabs the boy's jaw and spreads it apart while she lights his mouth with a glowing stick. The child doesn't resist.

I can't help it. I feel uncomfortable while watching this. “Are you sure that it's okay to treat the boy like that? He killed that dark magician in the blink of an eye. Don't agitate him.”

Laney glares at me and selects a small glass marble from her tool set, which starts to glow in multiple colours as soon as it touches the boy.

“Maybe you should take a look at Jade or Valda instead?” Daylen grumbles.

Valda shakes her head. “I am fine! He healed me completely.”

Laney points behind herself at Jade. “That one is completely fine. Just a few bruises. And Valda is healthier than ever. I am more concerned for the boy. That means if he really was summoned like you said.”

Valda shakes her head vehemently. “He wasn't summoned! Something went wrong and when the dark magician placed the embryo on the circle it simply started to grow until he was as he is now.”

Laney pulls a big round glass from her devices and holds it in front of the boy. His insides are made visible by the glass and I look away. I saw enough gore down in that cavern.

Quamar's eyes focus the amulet around my wife's neck. “Then why can you control him with that?” Her eyes turn to Jade. “And how did he revive her? Nobody ever came back after a dark magician took his soul. The child was touched by something that doesn't belong to this world!”

“He isn't evil.” Jade's voice makes everyone stop and Daylen leaves his post to grab his fiancée's hand. She continues. “And I didn't come back. He... stopped me from leaving. There were others with me. And when that mage died they were all relieved to be released. I wanted to go with them... But then there was this calm light. He said that it wasn't too late and that I should never give up.” Her eyes wander to the sleeping boy who is hanging in Valda's arms. “Maybe I dreamed it.”

Laney sighs and drops the vision glass onto the table with her instruments. “He is fine. There is nothing more to say. A perfectly healthy child. Age between eight months and one year. And according to the blood test he is Valda's and Yoran's child. I don't know of any way to cheat this test. And he has outstanding magical talent.” She places the marble in his hand again and it starts to shine once more. “Congratulations. It's probably better if we limit his mana pool until we are sure that he doesn't have a nasty personality. Children shouldn't run around with a weapon like that.”

Quarma grumbles. “Most adults I know shouldn't have their powers. What would a child who was born by a dark ritual do with it?”

Suddenly Valda's expression changes. “Shut up Quarma! I am the head of the clan. My child stays! If you don't like it you can leave.”

Quarma grips her staff tighter. “Dear daughter, I don't think that you have enough influence to expel the former clan leader.”

Valda smiles at her. “Do you want to test me?”

After several moments of staring at each other Quarma looks away.

Daylen steps forward. “Valda, it's good that you have recovered, but maybe you should sleep over this. I don't believe that someone can go through such an experience without being affected.”

Valda glares at him. “I was affected! I got cut open like livestock and had the first few months with my child stolen from me! Go and speak to the others who saved me. Not a word to anyone! Make up a suitable story or persuade them to keep their mouth's shut. If one word gets out I'll see to it that some heads roll!”

“A... As you wish.” He bows.

Valda turns to me. “And you'll use all your resources to sweep the entire incident under the carpet!”

I nod. “There is nothing I wouldn't do for you.”

In the meantime Laney mixed a bottle of a black substance and started to paint a set of runes onto the boy's neck. “I'll teach you the seal later. This time I'll apply the seal myself. Hahahaha. A cute boy with magical abilities. There is just one male magician for three females. And there may be only a few males that powerful in the entirety of Nict. The other families will try everything in their might to pair him off with their daughters. You could secure a valuable alliance with one of the other big clans.” Her eyes start to shine. “Or we could keep him to ourselves to strengthen the bloodline. I think there is a branch family with a daughter of suitable age.” The healer starts drooling. “Forget that. There hasn't been a male of our blood with such a strong hereditary disposition for magic in a long time. We should milk him and freeze the prize to preserve it for later generations.”

Valda forces a smile on her face. “There is still time to think about the possibilities and their consequences.”

I nod. Laney is definitely strange when it comes to themes like this.

“You guys should be more practical. Well, I am not the head of the family.” Laney purses her lips. “There! Properly sealed! Please come back if there are any problems.”

Valda yawns and stands up. “I'll go to sleep then. See you tomorrow.”

***

“I still need a few signatures from you dear.” I call out to Valda who is sitting on the veranda of our mansion. “It took me the entire night to let the old documents about the incident disappear and have new ones forged. I even faked a certificate of birth and had it inserted into the royal library. The thief I paid for it thought I was stupid when I told him that he has to break into a high security building to place a document there instead of stealing something.”

“Aaaahh... open your mouth and eat!” Valda stabs the spoon at the boy like a dagger. She is trying to feed a wobbly white mass to the boy. It's the liver of a grassland lizard.

I frown. “I didn't want to eat that either when I was small. My mother told me that she had to persuade me with sweets.”

Valda raises an eyebrow and grabs the boy's jaw, forcing the spoon into his mouth. “Laney said that little boys of his age have to eat that to stay healthy and grow properly.”

The child pulls a grimace, but Valda shoves another spoon into his mouth without mercy. Five minutes later the bowl with the liver is empty.

Then she places the boy in a playpen. “Stay.” She signals him to stay put. I hand her a pen and she starts signing the documents. “Ah, that's right! We have to give him a name.”

I blink. “Yeah, sure. But isn't there still more than enough time? Children and their names are officially recognized at the age of five.”

“Actually I have already thought of a whole set of possibilities. What do you think of Andur, Ascathon, Angrod, Auren, Acton, Asceron...” Her list goes on and on, but I stop to listen halfway as the boy opens the door to his playpen with ease.

It's a complicated lock and I didn't expect a child to be able to understand the mechanism. The boy toddles off through the garden and into the direction of the stables. I just stand there, unable to cope with what I just saw.

“... Arduin...”

“Dear?”

“... Azir...”

“DEAR!”

“Yes?”

I point towards the stables. “He ran off! Towards the stables! It's dangerous there for a child.”

Valda shrugs her shoulders. “That's no problem. Actually I chose this spot to set him free in order to teach him.”

“Teach him?” I frown.

Valda signs another page. “Yes. To follow my commands. That's something he has to learn as early as possible.”

I take the first stack of papers back. “Why don't you simply use the amulet to command him?” I point at the artefact around her neck.

Valda shakes her head vehemently. “That would defeat the point completely. Using the amulet would only create distrust between us. He has to realize that while my commands may inconvenience him, they are in his best interest. And he has to learn that his mother is a ~haven of safety~.”

I try to smile. “But in the stables...”

“~He is a smart one. He'll survive.~”

***Free City States of Nict, Tri***

***Me***

I got away from the scary woman! At first I thought that she had adopted me or something like that. But then she brought me to that other woman who tortured me the entire night with her devices! I simply fell unconscious at some point.

And today I wake up and she is forcing that strange stuff down my throat! On top of that my magic is gone! What the hell did they do to me?

At least I got away while she wasn't paying attention. Maybe Mr. Black was the good guy and Mrs. Sacrifice was the evil one? Did I misunderstand something? But for some strange reason she didn't use the amulet. That was her mistake.

I go as fast as I can until I reach a paddock with black horses inside. At least they look like horses. I remember from my old world that you can ride on them. I walk closer until I reach the fence. Maybe I can use them to escape?

Now that I look at them I get doubts. They are too big. I'll never be able to flee on one of them. And they have broken horns at their foreheads. Are they unicorns?

In the centre of the paddock is a pillar with bags. They are out of nets and filled with briquettes. Some kind of food? But it's too high for the horses. Now that I think about it, isn't the fence a little too high too?

Then a big leathery bird lands on the pillar and starts picking on the briquettes. It's something like a bat. So the food is meant for those birds? But why would you feed those things?

The bird looks up and locks its eyes on me. They look hungry... and the bird is twice my size. It leaps into the air and glides towards me. Nonono! I am not food! I look around, but there is no way to outrun the thing and no opportunity to hide.

Suddenly one of the horses jumps upwards and snatches the bird out of the sky. The mouth of the horse opened much wider than I remember them to be able to and revealed a set of sharp teeth.

The big bird squeals and pecks at the horse, but without effect. The maw of the horse is holding the bird in a tight grip.

Then the horse starts to chew slowly, not caring about the squeals of the bird. Soon the bird is silent and the horse looks at me while it continues to chew, blood running down its neck. A pair of red glowing eyes locks onto me.

I turn and run as fast as I can back the way I came. After some metres I trip and fall flat on the ground, but I get up and start running again as fast as my chubby feet can carry me.

What went through my head? I am less than a metre tall, have no magic and I move like a walking stick! Even the fucking birds here see me as food! No! Forget the bird! The horse ate the bird! The horse ate the fucking bird and it was bigger than me! And I don't know this world. What other nightmares are out there?

Finally I arrive back at the starting point of my adventure. The scary woman is still speaking to the man. Good!

I sneak back into my fenced area and close the door behind me.

That's the moment when the woman turns her attention back towards me. “You are so cute and well-behaved!”

She lifts me out of the playpen and places me on her lap. “And because you stayed put you'll get a reward.”

She shoves something on a stick into my mouth and I already expect the vile taste of something inedible.

But it tastes sweet and the vile taste from earlier disappears from my mouth...

… did I just get rewarded?

.