Slipping Away

Raven did not wake up with a start, as a part of his mind never settled into sleep in the first place. No one had come into his room through the entire night. If anyone had tried, then he would have instantly jumped up with a dagger to their throat.

'I was too careless. I need to leave.' He thought to himself as he sat up and ran a hand through his hair.

Knock.

Just then, a silent knock came from the door and Raven sprang to his feet just as it cracked open. Roland's head popped in and he raised an eyebrow when he saw Raven holding up a dagger.

"Where did you even hide that?" The older man scoffed before shaking his head and saying why he came here. "Come and have some breakfast."

"I'm not hungry." Raven shook his head. Roland gave him a doubtful look but didn't say anything more before turning around and leaving. There was no point in forcing Raven to eat with them if the boy did not want to.

After he left, Raven turned to the window and quickly jumped through it. The room he had slept in was at the back of the house, which had a small fence not too far from it, and overgrown grass between the house and the fence. Raven squatted down and moved through the grass before jumping silently over the fence.

Small rodents scurried away under the cover of the shrubbery but Raven paid them no mind. He was more intent on putting some distance between him and this village. He was thankful for the nice place to rest, but there was no need for him to needlessly involve himself with these people. They would not understand the underlying motives that drove him forward in life. He was still young, but he had a goal.

"Where are you going?"

After a couple of minutes, a voice suddenly asked, and Raven froze, turning to look around. He saw no one around him and directed his sight to the tree branches above, but also found nothing.

"Who is there?" With hesitation, he eventually asked. The voice earlier sounded muted and jumbled so he was not able to clearly make it out. If it were not for his heightened senses, then he might not have heard it clearly at all to make out the words uttered.

Not far away, the air suddenly became hazy before Roland appeared, an annoyed look on his face. As soon as he appeared, Raven noticed and took a few steps back.

"I did not expect you to take off at the soonest chance you got. Really. Where do you plan on going from here?" Roland sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"I-..." Raven hesitated.

"Just say it." Roland sighed.

"I cannot mingle in the normal world like you and Xena. My kind isn't welcomed. I have experienced it first hand. I can only find my way by myself and try to go on with my life. And that means staying away from normal people." Raven eventually brought himself to say what was on his mind.

"..." Roland sighed again before turning around and looking in a certain direction. "I told Xena to stay with her people for now. I will be taking you somewhere."

"...What? Where?" Raven was taken aback.

"I have a few friends, you know. I might be a citizen of the White Empire, but that doesn't mean I agree with all of its policies. I know one or two Dark Magic practitioners that will be willing to take in a student." Roland turned back and flashed Raven with a grin that left Raven confused.

"Why do you want to help me so badly? You can easily just betray me and hand me over to the White Empire and be done with it." Raven was conflicted.

"Look, kid. Sure, I can do that. Many people wouldn't even think twice about it before turning you in. But not me. I'm a different kind of person." Roland used his thumb to point at himself. "I'm Roland, and I live by my own rules!"

.

.

"We are close. We should be able to find the Dark Magic practitioner in a few days or so. From what I can tell, he is largely inexperienced, but he has some power packed behind his moves." A man sporting a head of red hair and blue eyes said. His pale face and skinny body made him look like he was malnourished, but the look in his eyes told a different story.

"Inspector Jiro, how much of a fight do you think he will put up?" A random soldier that was assigned to the extermination squad sent by the White Empire after the Dark Magic practitioner than had become a problem as of late, asked.

The red haired man, Inspector Jiro, turned to look at the soldier with an excited look. "Enough to make me enjoy myself, that's for sure." He cackled before turning around and retracting his magic power from the surroundings. He had spread his mana around to be able to better detect the remnants of the Dark Magic that had been used in this village some time ago.

"Let's go. If he keeps up this pace of movement, then we should be able to catch up in a couple of days as long as nothing goes wrong. Onwards!" Inspector Jiro commanded as he returned to his carriage and sat down on the plush cushion of the carriage. Such level of luxury was something that was used to entice Holy Magic users like him to become dogs of the White Empire, but he did not mind that. There were many perks to the position and he eagerly accepted all the perks, as well as the few downsides that came with the job. However, the downsides did not really bother a man like him.

Clack.

Clack.

Clack.

The sounds of the hooves of the carriage horses resounded within the remnant of the village that had been burnt to the ground by Raven. Slowly but steadily, the extermination squad narrowed down on Raven's location.