1 Chapter One: The Mark

" You have no idea what you have done! " She shouted at me from across the room. My hands trembled, knowing that this would be my last chance to all of my problems finally go away. I had to do this, I had to take all of the pain and all of the frustration and finally use it to my advantage. But by doing so, I would risk losing everything. To strike down an elder, to destroy one of the last of our kind who had a true understanding of what we are..this is unforgivable. But it has to be done. It must be done. It must be act that I commit now without hesitation or I risk not being able to stop what is to come, the darkness.

I raise my hand, taking slow and steady breathes and face it to her direction. Her body is old and tired, her thin Grey hair tumbling down her shoulders like a silver waterfall, she was ready to do the same to me as I am to her. She is nervous and yet confident, her hand, though shaken from years of physical exhaustion, is pointed directly at me and I know that now is the time of action. " I am sorry..but you have left me no choice" and with a loud cracking noise thundering throughout the tiny hut, and that all too family burning sensation, tingling in my palm, the deed was done. I had done it. I had taken the life away from the last elder. It took only seconds but it was finally over. I can't believe how long it has taken me to get here, and yet now I must run. I must never look back, because I will be hunted, for the rest of my days, for every step that I take, will leave a trail of an insatiable hunger for revenge. One that, perhaps, I truly do deserve. I started this. If I had never taken the place of my brother, this would have never happened.

" I heard the sound from the Elders hut" a voice called in the distance behind me as I ran into the night, making my way through the black barked trees with only the pale moonlight as my guide. I was cold, I was hungry, I was tired and yet I could not stop. I had to keep going. It had been a few days since I had last eaten.

I traveled eastward for a few miles until I came to a small cottage beside a calm creek, the water sliding across the smooth rocks was almost calming and yet I was still nowhere near safety.

I approached the cottage and the door and opened it, breathing a sigh of relief that it was unlocked just as my comrades said that it would be days before.

" It took you long enough, Val" Emery smiled, sitting in the table with her small hands tucked comfortable beside her. She was wearing some torn clothes, which was not all that surprising considering in the entire year I've known her, she has never worn a single pair of clothing without a hole in it. Her long golden blonde hair, put up in a ponytail, wagged through the air as she shook her head in what I can only assume was disapproval.

" I am sorry, I couldn't get it done as quickly as we thought. She was heavily guarded, and I wanted to be careful. Plus, I figured she had some tricks up her sleeve" I answered, as I found the nearest chair and sat down.

" And? " Emery tilted her head slightly to the side " Did she try any tricks? You look completely fine" she almost sounded relieved in some aspect that was okay even though it felt like she judged me. When I had originally met Emery, I wasn't sure what to think of her. I knew she was tough just from the sheer fact that she almost put three people into a coma all by herself, simply because they tried to take her money, when I first stumbled upon her.

" No, she didn't. She did want to fight back but..she didn't try anything. It was..I don't want to talk about it" I closed my eyes and leaned back in the chair, rubbing my eyes with my hands and doing my best to clear my mind as quickly as possible.

" Well don't get to comfortable. We have to get moving soon. And we definitely don't want to keep Issac" Emery sighed as she picked up a bag of chips on the table beside her and tossed them onto my chest from across the room. Issac was Emery's older brother, who, unlike his rough and tumble sister, was more calm and collected of the two. He had always been super kind to me since Emery introduced us. Most of the time, he treated me like a sister. And sometimes, I think he preferred me over Emery simply because I got into trouble far less than her.

" You know that you did the right thing...right? " Emery asked to which I heard but declined answering. This was something that had weighed on me for so long and whilst I knew it was the right thing to do..it did not make things any easier. And it most definitely would not lift the guilt on my shoulders.

" There are some things that we can't change. It's not like you exactly asked for any of this to happen. It's not like you knew. And if she had just been honest from the beginning, none of this would have even happened" Emery continued. " And it can't be changed now. Things can't be undone. We have been stuck in this for a while now, so this was just a chain of things that had to happen.." Emery, at this point, felt like she was trying to convince herself more than me. I was doing my best to not think about it. The decision I made so long ago. To take on what I took, what I technically stole.

" I should've never done it in the first place " I answered. " The power wasn't mine to take in the first place. If I had just- " Emery cut me off, standing up and walking over to me "It..doesnt..change..anything" She growled at me" the look of sheer certainty in her eyes honestly intimidated me quite a bit. I knew her heart was in the right place but just because something has to be done doesn't mean its the right thing.

I lift up my hand, looking away from Emery to gaze upon the dark symbols that had now been tattoo'd upon it. A black shroud of feathers, that started from my wrist and traveled down my arm, would forever mark me. It would forever show what I had done. What I had taken and what I would have to lose. " This is never going to go away.." I continued to stare, finding myself Mesmerized, as always when I look upon it.

" It's not that bad. It means you have power that is beyond anything else we have. It means that you are the only one, the single person, that can lead us through the dark times, through the chaos, and keep us alive" Emery smiled as she too, looked at the feathered tattoo.

" I hope so..because if not..this was all for nothing"