I heard loud voices when I woke up. Whatever room I was in was filled with voices. Some were familiar, some weren't. I could hear the voices of Lara, Gert and Kern along with the voices of what sounded like old people.

"He can't stay here," a cranky, rough old man said.

I slowly opened my eyes. I was in a small, bright room with wooden walls and a wooden ceiling, a few windows and what looked like furs hanging on the walls. Five people stood next to the bed I lay in. Lara, Gert and Kern along with an old man and an old woman, both dressed in fine fur clothes and both also wore hats made from the heads of tiger-like creatures, similar to Terror, although smaller and less terrifying looking.

"He's an outsider. We don't know if we can trust him," the old man said.

"He saved our lives!" Lara responded angrily.

I slowly sat up in the bed I was in, noticing that I was still feeling quite exhausted. But I felt better, I felt the mana around me entering my body, filling me with energy.

"He's awake," Lara exclaimed loudly as she ran over to my bed. "Are you alright?"

I nodded slowly.

"We need to at least repay him a little, let's give him some food," the old woman suggested.

"Fine, but if he turns out to be one of them. I swear to the seve-" the old man began but he was interrupted by the woman.

"Ah shut it, old man, just get the poor boy some food," the old woman said to what I assumed was her partner or husband or something like that.

Once the old man left I took a closer look at the people around me. They seemed pretty much like humans from my old world, the only difference being the fact that Kern had an unnatural hair colour which may or may not be a normal thing in this world, I mean I was born with red eyes and white hair.

"I must say, I'm impressed that such a young boy managed to survive in the woods, how long were you alone in there?" the old woman asked.

"Month or two," I responded, still half asleep.

"What?!" The old woman seemed shocked.

"And you were all alone? We are your parents?" Lara asked, patting my arm.

Her question felt like a stab wound to the heart. It hurt.

"I..."

"It's alright, you don't need to talk about it," Lara responded after she saw the pained expression on my face.

I nodded slowly, a tear forming in the corner of my eye.

"Anyway... just, rest for now, if you need anything... just ask us," Lara said. Her voice calmed me down a little.

I nodded again.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Maybe this won't be so bad after all.

I was still very tired, focused on staying awake I barely heard what the others were talking about.

"But really, the old man's way too on edge since the church came through here," Kern said.

"He's just concerned about some heretics getting away from them," Gert said.

"How would a heretic even get away from them? Any that survive will regret it dearly, as is tradition," Lara said, turning away from me.

Heretics? Why would there be any heretics...

...

...

...

A scene from months ago flashed in my mind.

I saw the burning village once again, I saw the knights with the strange symbols on their chest plates. A throne with seven stars around it...

I saw the man sitting atop his mount. I heard his words once again.

"Kill all the heretics!" That's what he yelled that day.

...

...

...

My eyes widened and I was wide awake.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, my voice a slightly higher pitch.

"What do you mean?" Lara asked, sounding confused.

"What do you mean by heretics?"

"Oh, the church came through here a few months ago, saying they were looking for some heretics. We just pointed them in the direction of the... what was the name of the mountain pillar again?" Lara turned to the other two while my eyes became even wider.

"Ivaldra... no, ah yes. Ilvaldira. That's it. Said that some heretics life up there... and apparently they were right, said they found a whole village of them up there when the came back to rest here," Kern said.

I felt anger boil up within me.

"Is that so?" A smile appeared on my face and my eyes became even wider. Something inside me cracked that moment.

Mana began surging around me, violently and I could hear a voice I hadn't heard in a while pop up in my head again.

Finally... thought that you would never come around to using it again.

"I-Is something wr-" Lara began. But before she could finish the sentence I had already grabbed her by the throat.

"You were the ones who told them where to find us! Because of you people! Because of you! You are the reason they all had to die!" I yelled as I got out of bed.

Mana continued to violently swirl around me. It began to manifest, become visible. A blueish energy swirling around me, breaking things it touched. This was it. I was using it again. The power of wrath.

Kern was running up to me, but at the same time, I felt a rush of pure energy he fell to the ground. The same happened to the old woman and Gert. They were pressed to the ground.

"Mana pressure," the old woman managed to say.

Lara had grabbed onto my arm and was trying to break free from my grip, but it was to no avail.

"Please, we can talk about this."

"Oh, I would have loved to talk to them. Explain that we're not fucking heretics! But they just kept slaughtering us! So now, let me show you what they did because of you people!"

The door to the house we were in suddenly flew open and a man stepped inside, a man that didn't fall to the ground immediately but he had serious trouble staying on his feet.

"What's going on here!" he yelled, eying me with his brown eyes.

I just smiled at him and chuckled.

"Oh don't worry, I'm here to repay you for what you people did," I said, slightly tilting my head as I crushed Lara's throat with my bare hands.

I felt strength surging through me.

How long do I have?

A few minutes at best, but the mana is being used faster than you can take it in.

A few minutes will be more than enough.

At that moment Kern and Gert yelled as they jumped off the ground. They were slow. I quickly activated my wood elven magic mark.

"[Predator's Strength], [Predator's Instinct], [Predator's Agility]!" I called out loudly.

Mana burst forth from my body as I activated the techniques.

I dropped Lara's corpse onto the ground, blood splattering everywhere, and stepped forwards. With one hand I slapped Kern to the ground, creating a small crater when he hit it. With the other, I formed a fist and punched Gert in the gut. I knew that the impact would be powerful, [Predator's Strength] combined with the Power of Wrath would certainly not be weak, but I didn't expect what happened next.

My fist went straight through his gut, painting it blood red. I then turned to Kern who was still on the ground.

"You managed to free yourself once, do it again," I said, teasing him.

"Turn around idiot," Kern said with more confidence than was necessary.

I turned my head slightly and saw the man that had entered the house charging at me, with an axe held as high above his head as he could.

So slow.