Inheritors

A young boy could be seen standing before a window in a small empty room, he had a snow white hair which was tied in a ponytail, blue slitted pupils, a small pointed nose, and a cracked lip.

His ears were slightly pointed, and his skin looked to be shimmering under the reflection of the red moon, seeping in from the window.

"Alex... it's time" a black haired boy who had pointed ears and brown eyes, walked into the small empty room and said.

I inhaled deeply and turned away from the window, to face the elf boy who had just walked into the room, "Are you sure you want to do this? This is very dangerous, and there's a high risk of getting discovered" I said to him with a serious tone.

"That's what everyone says... But you always do this and survive, even when the others don't..." The elf boy was saying.

"We're different Mike! It's in my blood to survive, to fight, and to conquer... That's what beasts do" I interrupted.

"Come on man, don't say that... You are the last of your kind as far as we know, I mean, it's not everyday you see a pendragon who has an elf blood" Mike said with a chuckle.

"Trust no one once we leave the stronghold, including me... A-and water isn't to touch my skin in the presence of the others, okay?" I sighed and said.

"We'll get through this, and once we get the relic we were promised... Then we're done, right?" Mike asked with uncertainty.

"Yes... Where are the others?" I asked, and grabbed the rusted spear which was hidden in the shadows beside the window.

"They're waiting downstairs... And P-peter was put encharge by the boss" Mike forced the last part out of his throat.

"That's the first sign... Always be ready to draw your sword at my signal" I said, while walking out of the room, with Mike following closely behind.

We were all street orphan's who grew up together, but respected each other differently. When we became of age, we were recruited by a notorious gang, in the promise of getting a relic when we reached the age of sixteen... which was the only possible age we could gain abilities from relics.

Relics were very costly and hard to earn, and the only people who were capable enough to slay the magical beasts for their relics, were inheritors. They were people who had siphoned the power of relics at the age of sixteen, and now had corresponding abilities to the beast it was gotten from.

We all worked as rookies for the gang, which are people who help in carrying luggages for inheritors, who went on adventures to discover and recover mysterious relics from ancient tombs and castles.

But that was not what we really did... When we leave the stronghold with the adventurous inheritors, we secretly left landmarks behind, which were tracked by the main gang.

And after the inheritors risk their life to discover and recover ancient relics, the main gang would ambush us and rob the inheritors of their recovery, with us playing the victims role during the robbery.

Many of us have been discovered by the inheritors and slain along the way, while many of us have been used as baits for the dangerous magical beasts in the dark.

I have gone and survived on six missions, without being discovered or even suspected for once. That made me a very known and respected rookie in the outskirts.

The current mission I was about to embark on was with five other rookies, in which three were with the gang. This particular mission was a very dangerous one, and the only reason I agreed to go, was because I was sixteen, and I was promised a relic by the gang... if all were to go well.

The inheritors we were going with were all powerful nobles, and where we were heading to was the 'blood tomb'. It was named that because no one has ever gone in and returned alive.

The more dangerous a tomb is, the more valuable the relics inside would be. And for many years since the discovery of the tomb, no one has been able to breach it's defence mechanism.

But the nobles promised us that they have been studying it's defence mechanism for years, and that they could now predict it's pattern.

So if we were able to go in, discover and recover, act the victims role during the robbery, and get back to the stronghold safely, then each of us who were with the gang and went on the mission, would be given a relic, as we were all sixteen of age.

I didn't start off as a street orphan like Mike and most of us. I knew my mom before she died... Before she died from a simple cold. My mom was an elf, who had done every menial job in the outskirts, just to put a meal on the table.

She told me that my dad was the last pendragon, and got murdered before she knew she was carrying his child... A child who had a rare bloodline. I was born as a half human, half drake, and half elf.

I had the ears and eyes of an elf, the structure of a human, and the scales of a drake. But the reason why I had survived as a pendragon in the stronghold, was because my scales were soft and transparent, and were only visible when my skin comes in contact with water.

Everyone thought I was a half elf, except Mike who has been my best friend since my mom died. My mom overworked herself and fell ill from the cold weather of otherworld, as we now call it.

And I was just ten as of that time, and couldn't work in her place to earn enough money for a medical assistance. But before she passed away, she warned me to never reveal my race to anyone, or I would end up like my father.

But that was easier said than done, because the rain here gave no signs before falling, and if I were to be in no shelter at that time, then my soft transparent scales would start glistening under the reflection of the constant red moon.

And that was how Mike found out.