The cold city

Stepping into the freezing cold, Soren tightened his thin scarf around his neck, the only piece of cloth to protect him against the cold weather. The sun was doing little to increase the temperature. Quickly, he ducked into the cobbled street as he made his way to the middle part of the city and into the bustling crowd. He walked with slumped shoulders and made sure not to jostle anyone as he moved. Attracting attention was the last he wanted. Crossing his fingers, he hopped to find a job today.

After several hours, Soren turned into another street, panting. It was almost dusk now and he had been around the whole city looking for work. Today had been exceptionally harder to find work. No one wanted him near them, let alone employ him. They looked at him with disgust in their eyes as they shut their doors to his face. Some had even called upon the city guard and just now, he had narrowly escaped them.

Irritated, he kicked the snow filled ground, splattering snow all over the place as he continued walking. "Dammit! Today is worse than usual. If this goes on, i might have to feed Risha garbage again. "

She always fell sick from eating garbage food, that's why he started going to the city to look for work, just so as to get even a single morsel to give her. Sometimes the work proved to be too shard, but it had never bothered him as long as she didn't sleep hungry. e had lied to her, saying that it was garbage food cause he didn't want her to worry about him going tot he city.

Suddenly, he turned into a a small square that was filled with people, listening to a man who stood on a raised platform. He was shouting something but Soren was too far to listen. As he passed the crowd, Soren caught the words of the angry man's speech.

".....yet the darkness continues to spread across our lands. But instead of taking the war to them, our king is busy playing with his concubines in his palace bed. He thinks he is safe with all the army of powerful mages he commands and leaves us on our own. But let me tell you, we will not sit back nd watch our kin being slaughtered by these monsters. we will take the war to them and today, the first of their blood will run through the streets of Avelon!"

The crowd roared in approval, waving their fists in the sir. Soren looked on, distracted from everything. He had never seen a man talk so openly against the king and with so much hatred for the demons.

"So let me show good people, let me show you how it's done. Haldron, bring out the prisoner." The speaker turned and waved at his men.

A huge man emerged from a door behind the stage, dragging a tarp covered box with him. The speaker reached a hand out and poked at the tarp. At his touch, something inside moved. Soren jumped back at the unexpected movement, as did the rest of the crowd except for the speaker and his accomplice.

The speaker untied the ropes securing the tarp and pulled it aside revealing a small chained figure of a boy, around six years old, wearing torn and filth stained clothes. the strange thing about the boy was that he had two tiny brown horns protruded from the boy's forehead and arched backwards. His skin was so pale one could see the black veins under it. His big innocent eyes, a mixture of black and crimson, wear full of fear and confusion. One couldn't help feeling pity for it.

"Now don't let it's appearance make you feel sorry for it, for this monster is full of evil. I know that the first step is the hardest but together, let us seize this moment." The speaker yelled.

Soren's eyes were glued to the scene on the platform when he felt a tingling sensation. His eyes snapped up to see the demon boy staring at him, as if seeing him clearly, despite the crowd blocking most of his view. It felt as if the demon boy was calling to him for help.

Suddenly the speaker, the speaker unsheathed his sword and raised above the terrified demon boy's head.

Not waiting to see the next horrible scene, Soren ran, his heart pounding with such force he was afraid it would rip out of his chest. The demon had somehow known he was there. It's demeanor was not that of hatred or rage, but of relief that he was there.

Soren's heart burned with pain so he sat on the ground and hugged his knees to his chest, desperately wanting to escape from the pain.

"What is wrong with me?" he whimpered.

'