The Start of A Kingdom's Ruin

In a small village hidden with the snow-covered lands of the north, the bright flow of surging flames could be seen from afar. Plumes of smoke rose from the middle of the village, one might think they were celebrating something grand.

Well, yes, they were indeed celebrating something. But it wasn't the birth of a newborn or an offering to a god, it was the fact that a witch would die by their hands tonight.

It was very rare for the actual burning of a witch to occur. Most would receive far simpler deaths. And following that train of thought, there were witches of every kind. From young, gorgeous women to withering old geezers. The term 'witch' was a neutral one.

But what was tied to the wooden pole, surrounded by a ring of flames and a circle of heated villagers was neither a fair maiden nor a young man. It wasn't an aged hag or a grizzled old fart as well.

It was a child.

His body looked a bit malnourished and frail. His skin was a sickly pale that put off anyone that came near him. His clothes were in no way clean and probably worn for weeks on end. He had white hair that blended in with the snow and a pair of strange icy green orbs.

But when a light was flashed into them, people could see the bloodthirsty red that threatened to drag them to deepest depths of hell.

That was the telltale sign that one was a witch. Strangely coloured irises that weren't a normal colour no matter where you looked.

But not a single thing could be seen in the boy's currently lifeless eyes. A dead fish would have more life in their eyes than his. What was he thinking? What were the thoughts that plagued the boy's mind to not even show fear at his current situation?

Maybe it was the realization that showing any kind of emotion would only fuel the villagers' ire even further. They were screaming at him with scratchy voices, the men in anger, the women in disgust, and the children in a weird combination of both.

"BURN THE MONSTER!"

"FREE US FROM THIS CURSE!"

"IF WE KILL HIM, THE KINGDOM WILL REWARD US!"

"MAMA! HE GLARED AT ME!"

"HIDE THE CHILDREN! HE'LL FREEZE THEM OR TURN THEM INTO MONSTERS!"

The villagers' screams pounded onto the boy's ears like drums.

He couldn't make sense of anything. Nothing around him was fully processed in his head, making him feel confused and disoriented. He didn't know what the crowd was saying even when they were screaming it at the top of their lungs. The crowd believed that he was at fault but for what?

They believed he had done something unforgivable but what?

They believed he was a monster but why?

The young boy thought that they were more of a monster than him. The men had beaten him and bruised him when he had done nothing wrong. The women had poured cold, dirty water from their laundry in a freezing winter on him. The children had dragged his face down into the mud and whacked him with their wooden swords.

If he were to dare approach them, no matter how far away he may have seemed, stones would be immediately pelted against him accompanied by slurs no civil man or woman should say.

The reason behind such prejudice was due to the boy's strange powers. Any object would be consumed by frost at his slightest touch and it was said that any living plant would grow into a carnivorous monster at his command.

His hands were covered in thick leather gloves to prevent him from freezing the wooden pole he was bound to. The inside of the glove had been completely enveloped with frost and while the boy could handle the cold, he only thought he could.

"Serves you right!"

One of the children said with fresh bandages covering the majority of his face. It was the child that had caused the situation to elevate this point. It was a boy slightly older than him. One of his eyes was ruined by the young witch, so to compensate they ruined his eye as well.

But they quickly realized that such a situation could happen again in the future. If they did nothing to stop this living threat, it might not only be an eye that was taken.

"Take this!"

The bandaged child yelled out with a growl and threw a stone at him. It was a lucky shot and it was able to cause the piece of wood left in the young boy's eye to penetrate even deeper. It hurt and the young boy grit his teeth, but he had already grown numb to such sensations.

At this point, he wasn't sure which burned more. Was it the searing pain in his eye? Or was it the scorching heat of the flames surrounding him? Maybe it was the burning in his heart at his treatment.

"Look at his wicked eyes!"

"There's no doubt that he's the son of a witch!"

"We should have let him die to the wolves! We should have never let that woman take him in!"

The young boy bit his lip hard enough that it started to bleed. He found out that the anger he felt at the mad villagers burned far hotter than any embers that dared to come close.

Their voices no longer held the same fury it had moments ago, but the fear and hatred they had towards him could still be felt. Their eyes full of distrust and suspicion all just because he was a witch. That didn't change the fact he was a child! A child with no parents and the only guardian he had taken away by them.

And he was now to perish by the hands of these people who could not accept the unnatural. As fury rose in his chest, there was something inside his mind told him that he should just accept his fate.

「 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕕𝕚𝕖 」

And maybe it was right. Maybe it was better this way. He wouldn't have to stick around for things that could be far worse.

'𝘉𝘶𝘵...'

But he couldn't because then there was no point in their guardian dying. The only person in the world who dared to smile at him. His world had vanished, no, rather it was his sun that did. The sun that had kept his little planet living and able to endure anything that came at it had disappeared— it had died.

He no longer had anyone to orbit around and follow. He had become…

Alone.

Hollow.

Cold.

And lastly, numb.

With that, there was only one logical thing for the boy to do. Only one course of action that could possibly quell his fury.

𝐑 𝐄 𝐕 𝐄 𝐍 𝐆 𝐄

Then it was as if the world slowed down for the boy, he started looking for whatever he could use, anything he could do. He wasn't going to try to kill the villagers today, he was in no condition to do so.

And even if he were to somehow end their lives today, he would probably die with them. What's more, destroying one measly village in the harsh northern lands would do nothing.

It wouldn't end with just there. He would hunt down more villages that mistreated witches so and the kind people who tried to protect them. From villages to towns, from towns to cities, and from cities to the entire rotten kingdom.

"Hehe... Hehehehhehehehehe."

Mocking laughter started to ring out loudly from the young boy's mouth. A cruel and wicked smile that stretched from ear to ear blossomed on his face. The mad shouts and spouts of anger lowered down to a whisper.

Fire swept by the young boy's eyes, causing them to appear as if they were a fearsome red in the ones of the villagers. Their faces had morphed from ones of anger to pure, unadulterated fear. It was as if the shadow of the Devil himself was looming over them, ridiculing them for their futile act.

It was a day, that all of them would remember.

It was a day, that would be forever etched into their hearts.

It was a day, that would linger at the back of their minds for eternity.

It was the day; the journey for the northern monster's revenge had started.