A man was crouched near a small fire, its light illuminating the forest surrounding him. He stared into the flames, seemingly looking for something. The forest around him was eerily quiet, almost like it was waiting and watching in anticipation for what he'll do next. As he sat there staring into the light, the campfire and the sounds of the forest traveled him back in time to a happier time. Memories of happiness and peace flew through his head, but he quickly dismissed those thoughts , trying to stay focused on the task at hand ...The man saw that the fire was getting low and threw a couple of dry pieces of wood onto the pile and used his knife to stir the embers.

A crack echoed across the woods shattering the silence, the man spun around with knife in hand ready to face whatever lay in the darkness. The man tensed up, his body ready to spring into action at the slightest movement or sound from the forest.

Coming from the darkness almost like a specter was a cloaked figure with a backpack, he shifted his body towards the figure " Who goes there, identify yourself now" He said with fire in his eyes.

" Wait Marcus it's me " the specter raised its hand in alarm at the threat and pulled back the hood and stepped into the light. As the hood was pulled back, Marcus relaxed and released the air he had trapped in his lungs.

"Maya, you can't be sneaking up on me like that and especially in a dark forest wearing a hood" he said while standing to embrace his friend. He looked at how much she had changed over these long years, her once bright blonde hair, now seemed darker and her olive shaped eyes now had a weight to them that caused her blue eyes to have a striking feature that in her youthful days wasn't present in them.

Maya moved towards Marcus and returned the hug" sorry Marcus I wasn't sure if it was you and didn't want to chance it if you were someone else" Maya moved closer to the fire and placed her pack gently on the ground and revealed what she was caring. As the backpack flap was pushed back It revealed a young baby with black hair and tanned skin, the baby was sound asleep and had a smile as it dreamed . Maya smiled at the baby and looked towards Marcus "

I was able to avoid suspicion and grabbed him at the right opportunity and made a break for highwall, then I followed the hunter trails through the woods when I found your campsite" she said while warming herself near the fire.

Marcus moved to sit next to maya and looked at the baby ,"he has his father's hair"He said to Maya.

"Yes he does and when he gets older he'll probably be the spitting image of his father and probably get into as much trouble as he did when he traveled and adventures with you back in the days" she said smirking at Marcus, Marcus just sighed and leaned back on his tree stump.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

" If he's anything like his father,then he's going to go places and get into as much or more trouble then his dad and I ever did " Marcus said with a voice filled with a life well lived, but as memories of old came flooding back.

Marcus looked towards the fire and his eyes took on a shade of sadness that Maya felt strike her very heart.

" I would climb the tallest peaks, fight the most ferocious of beasts and the evilest of men just to share one more round of beer with him" Marcus eyes filled with tears and with a choking sob bit back the tears trying to overcome him.

Maya reached across and grabbed his hand to comfort him.

With a shaking breath Marcus was able to compose himself and returned Maya's grasp with a firm squeeze, Marcus looked towards the baby that was illuminated by the fire and looked it over, it's head had a good amount of black hair, it seemed to be not overly big or too small, and didn't have any disabilities that he could see in the light. Marcus turned towards Maya and asked " so what is the little tikes name anyway if we're going to be traveling together?"

Maya looked at her baby and smiled and said his name" Cedric" and as Marcus looked at the baby. It opened its eyes for the first time since she arrived and Marcus was stunned to see

That instead of regular eyes, the baby had piercing blue eyes,and his irises were different from normal,instead of round in the middle,they were in the shape of slits almost like the eyes of an ancient beast and the weight of these eyes seem to bore into Marcus's very soul and as Marcus stared into these eyes,he saw for a brief moment a man in his twenties holding an axe in both hands glowing a bright blue , he stood facing a growing mass of darkness that sent a shiver through Marcus and seemed hell bent on destroying everything and anyone in its path, and as Marcus gazed upon this man he seemed to snort with laughter and jumped towards the darkness with no hesitation and fear in his eyes.

No,their was only excitement and the knowing that what he stood for was right and worth dying for and as he moved towards the darkness , the heavens themselves seemed to open and come down to help him, a crashing wave of light came from above and helped push back the darkness.

Marcus shuddered and looked back at the baby staring back at him with those blue eyes that stared right through him. The baby looked at the man and seemed to give some

Kind of approval and then nodded back off to sleep. Marcus stared at the baby long and hard and looked at maya.

" yep he's gonna make his old man and i look like amateurs and he's gonna cause hell wherever he goes" Marcus face broke out into a cheeky grin.