1 Chapter 1 Child of Fate

RAIN FELL

AIDAN RAN TO HIS MOTHER. "Mom!"

Lightning flashed the sky.

A soldier turned and restrained him. Aidan pushed him, but the soldier didn't budge. Aidan reached out his hand. "Don't take my Mom!"

His mother stopped her step on the muddy dirt and looked at him. "Stay with your father, Aidan. I will be fine."

The two soldiers by her side nudged her to move.

His father approached and put a hand on his shoulder. "Let's go, Aidan."

"No!" Aidan pushed the soldier and ran to his mother. His feet splashed the puddle.

The soldier beside his mother turned and aimed his rifle at Aidan, his finger at the trigger.

"Don't!" His mother screamed.

BANG!

—

Aidan woke up free falling in the sky. His locket type necklace fluttering in the wind. The wind whizzed past him as the silver sky slithered around like entangled eels. Weird, isn't the sky supposed to be blue? Yellow clouds floated slowly. Aidan Blinked. Are those artificial clouds? Wait, first of all, why am I falling from the sky?

The wind blew in his ears as it brought him back to reality. This is no dream! I'm really falling! Aidan turned his body. There were a lot of trees in the vicinity. If I can land on the- Wait, no. Even if I can land on them, I will still die. Dammit, what should I do?

Caw!

What was that?

An enormous bird flew towards him.

A pterodactyl? No, this thing is too big compared to the ancient dinosaur. What is it then? Wait a minute, who cares about what it is. It's flying towards me right now!

The bird cawed and flapped its wide wings. A few of its kind followed from behind.

The monstrosity started to get closer, and Aidan got a clear view of his predator. The enormous bird fixed its red-blood eyes on him, silver bones protruding out of its chest. They seemed strong and sharp at the tip. The feathers looked the same as an eagle, but Aidan saw them reflect the sunlight. Probably no ordinary feathers. It had a face of an eagle, but instead of a beak, it had a giant pincher instead. A perfect weapon to hold its prey.

And the prey is me. The bird swung its pincer wide as it approached and Aidan saw the bird's mouth filled with sharp teeth that rotated like a washing machine.

This is it.

Aidan closed his eyes and braced for the pain.

But it never came.

Thump! Caw!

Huh?

Aidan opened his eyes and saw that the birds fought among themselves. One of them moved as agile as a fish in water and bit the neck of its adversary with its pincer. A sharp, tormented howl reverberated through the air.

Caw!

The poor bird that got its neck pinched struggled to break free, but its attacker struck with its scythe-like claws straight into the abdomen. Blood flowed, accompanied by a high-pitched scream. The bloody bird fell.

Aidan winced when the bird looked at him. It seemed proud of its victory as it cried out with a high-pitched shriek before it flew after him. Once again, it opened its pincher wide.

Oh, no!

The bird barely caught Aidan before the other bird struck it on the back.

Yes! Again!

Aidan couldn't believe his luck. He escaped death twice, and ironically, his savior was another bird that wanted to eat him. The bird that almost ate him seemed furious as it slapped its opponent. Its opponent bled and disoriented from the slap. The blood flowed from the nasty wound on its head and Aidan was sure he saw a brain.

Is this bird the first one that wants to eat me?

What a powerful bird, even a slap of its wing can cause such damage. Its opponent counterattacked with a quick claw attack and it scratched the eye. Both of them refused to back down and fought tirelessly. Biting, scratching, slapping. They flew away from each other before accelerating and crashed against one another.

Such an epic batt- a claw grabbed Aidan from the sky. Hey! Hey! Wait, no! The battle is not finished yet. How dare you, a predator of the sky, steal from your comrades! Aidan wished he could shout that out loud, but he was an inch away from being shredded by the sharp claws. Aidan turned his attention to the battle, but both fighters stopped fighting and started chasing him.

Aidan sighed. There was no way they could catch up with their condition. Both birds cawed as their eyes glowed purple. The light spread around their body like veins. Aidan trembled.

Are they going to shoot lasers out of their eyes? That would be cool if their target isn't me.

Slowly, the birds raised their wings, their eyes locked on him or his captors; he wasn't sure. They pushed their wings and flew towards him like a rocket.

Crash!

The thunderous crack of air followed before both of them arrived a few meters in front of him.

Holy moly! Aidan gaped. That was supersonic fast! How did they do that?

Caw!!!

A sense of foreboding washed over Aidan's heart. He turned his head. Purple lines spread throughout his captor's body. It raised its wings. Oh, shoot!

Flap!

The bird flapped its wings and launched into the distance. The burst of wind struck his face. And the speed pushed Aidan' soul out of his body. The bird released its grip, and Aidan started to fall from the sky... Again.

Aidan wished all of this could end quickly. He was going to die, either from falling or being eaten. What was the difference anyway? But if Aidan had a choice between both options, he would definitely choose death from falling. Nobody wants to be eaten by a giant bird with pinchers.

Aidan sighed, spread out his limbs, and closed his eyes. The birds cawed and fought in the background while he embraced death.

What were those birds anyway? Are they genetically modified? Did some rich billionaire paid the scientist to make them? Damm, those guys must have fantasy over Jurassic Park. And this place was weird too: yellow clouds, silver sky.

Aidan opened his eyes.

And now trees with giant leaves.

Aidan crashed into the tree, rustling the leaves as he went through the crown and bouncing from branch to branch. He tried to grab a branch, but his hand slipped. He tried again, but his hand kept slipping. Falling, his leg got caught by a vine. At least it was a vine to him, though it was blue instead of the usual green.

Nothing is usual here.

The vine snapped, and Aidan fell to the ground.

"Ow," Aidan rubbed his butt. He looked upward; giant leaves fell down from the result of his crash. For all his life, he had never seen such huge leaves before. Are they genetically modified too? He wondered. Well, they created supersonic-giant birds, so creating trees with big leaves doesn't seem to be much. But why are they so slippery?

Aidan approached the trunk of the tree—for some reason, it looked slimy, like someone covered it in oil. He probed it with his finger. It was smooth, like glass and slippery, like a wet floor. But Aidan was curious about its hardness, so he tapped it a few times. It felt like concrete minus the slimy and oily surface. Aidan thought nothing of it and put his palm on the trunk. This tree saved his life, so he said his thanks.

Aidan looked around. "Well, now what? What would a billionaire that is crazy enough to make this want me to do? Do they want to see how I survive in foreign nature?"

They don't have to do that; actually, just put me in any place far from civilization and I will die within days, he thought. Aidan sighed. He wished he could at least get a few million dollars if he survived. He needed to bold that out: IF HE SURVIVED.

What is the first thing you need in the wild? Water, food, shelter. Precisely in that order. Aidan set off for his journey, walking through the forest, the jungle, or whatever. There were trees, lots of them, so he's going to call it the jungle. Now, how do I find water again? He searched through his memory, and he plucked something that he watched on YouTube—to find water; all you need to do is follow the animals. Aidan stopped and inspected the area. It was peacefully quiet except for the rustling of leaves; he didn't even hear the supersonic bird.

Aidan thought the birds should still be near because they just fought each other or wanted to eat him; the latter was a fact. He continued his step. Eventually, he would find something to follow or maybe something to eat. Both would be nice, but Aidan had to put his hope in one basket.

As Aidan explored the jungle, he saw a giant bush rustling slightly. He thought it could be an animal, so he approached it. As he got closer, the bush shook and an animal popped out.

Aidan trembled and backed off. Standing with four legs and a hideous jaw, the skeletal beast had saliva dripping from its mouth while it stared at him. It growled and snorted. Aidan thought of running away, but he heard that if you play dead for five seconds, the predator will leave you alone. Would this beast leave him alone? The beast's arrowhead face and deep red eyes told him no.

Aidan knelt, both hands on the ground. He kept his eyes on the beast as it rounded him. Taking a deep breath, Aidan threw dirt at the creature before running away.

He meandered through the trees and bushes. Giant leaves cracked when he stepped on them. The sound could give him out, but he kept running. Even when he saw a stream of water, he kept running. The beast growled from behind, reminding him to keep moving or death would come.

Aidan saw a small cave, fit enough for a man to hide. He ran towards it and slid inside. He closed his mouth with his hand and tried to control his breathing. The skeletal beast came; it sniffed around for his track, moving its long limbs and stone shoulders as it looked for him. He was lucky he could distract the beast and made it to the cave. Aidan took a breath carefully. He didn't want the beast to notice him.

Time passed slowly; every second was another chance of him dying. But then something made a noise in the distance, and it caught the skeletal beast's attention. It growled; this time it sounded like a broken engine. It leaped into the distance, vanishing from Aidan's view.

Aidan sighed in relief. First a giant bird, now a feline beast. It seemed like fate itself hated him. His mouth was dry, and he needed water really badly. He crawled out of the cave to find the stream he saw earlier. At least for now, he got water.

Or so he thought. The skeletal beast approached him. It never left. Aidan stood rooted to his feet as the beast grinned. Aidan tried to find ways to escape, but the beast wouldn't give him a second chance—it lunged at him and struck.

Scratch!

It sent him flying into the air; Aidan felt cold and numb as he flew. He didn't even feel the pain when he landed on the ground. But he saw the silver sky that looked like entangled eels moving around each other.

The sky moved and revealed a moon; or was it an eye? It looked like an amethyst with deep purple color and dark spots in between. And it reminded him of his mother, which was... beautiful.

{CI KEL KRUAT} a rough voice whispered.

[Children of Fate Class Obtained]

[Skill — Dirty Tricks Obtained]

Aidan closed his eyes. Those billionaires really outdid themselves.